Centralia Coffee Stand Partners With Elementary School to Celebrate Youth Art Appreciation Month

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Love your life. You’re a superstar. Have fun today.

These are just some of the positive messages adorning coffee sleeves at The Cup, an up-and-coming coffee stand in along North Pearl Street in Centralia.

While supplies last, every coffee cup sleeve at The Cup is uniquely decorated by a student at Oakview Elementary School, which is located just a short distance from the coffee stand.

Business owner Jessi Gilliam used to homeschool her children, and during that time she developed the habit of celebrating Youth Art Appreciation Month and other events like it.

When it came around this year, she searched for a way to involve the schools and the community, knowing both were going through tough times.

“When I think of joy, I think of my childrens’ art,” Gilliam said.

So, she called up Oakview Elementary.

She noted that she was nervous at first to ask the school about this, but when they heard her idea, they were ecstatic.

She sent a box of 500 sleeves to the school, which has been decorating them, sanitizing them using UV technology and sending them back to her.



Gilliam and her partner opened The Cup on Nov. 7. As her business grows, she hopes her legacy will be one of community building.

“Community is everything to us,” Gilliam said.

To encourage participation, Gilliam says that customers who post a picture of their drink and decorative sleeve on social media with the hashtags #TheCup and “#CentraliaSchools will be entered for a chance to win a $15 gift card.

More Information on The Cup

Owners: Marco Bertucci and Jessi Gilliam

Location: 1822 N. Pearl St., Centralia

Hours: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecupcentralia