The mystery donor behind a series of $1,000 gift card donations at Calgary's Caffe Beano has been revealed as Norm Johnson, a retired Calgary CEO in land development and oil and gas. Johnson, who passed away on April 6, had been anonymously purchasing gift cards to cover meals and hot drinks for Calgarians in need on Giving Day, bolstering connections to the University of Calgary's Mental Health Initiative for Stress and Trauma (MIST).
A Regular with a Generous Heart
Norm Johnson was a familiar face at Caffe Beano, a small cafe tucked away in downtown Calgary. He would spend hours there, chatting with customers and staff about his grandchildren and often offering to pay for their coffees. Staff knew him as the man who would leave $100 bills on the counter for the cafe's community fund, which helped customers who couldn't afford to pay.
It was only after his passing that his son, Trevor Johnson, discovered the extent of his father's generosity. While cleaning his condo, Trevor found a 2018 newspaper article taped to the door with the headline 'Coffee Angel pays for $1k worth of joe,' detailing a mystery donor who had left $1,000 to cover customers' orders for an entire day. The barista at the time described the donor only as a 'regular customer.'
'My sister looked at me and she said, 'Hey that's dad, isn't it?'' Trevor recalled. They confirmed the discovery with the cafe's manager, Emily Pohorelic.
Mental Health Advocacy
Norm Johnson was open about his own mental health struggles, living with bipolar disorder. He developed a rating system to communicate how he was feeling each day, which became well-known among regulars. 'He'd say, 'Oh I think I'm a six today.' And they'd say, 'No I think you're sitting at an eight,'' Pohorelic said.
In 2022, Johnson championed fundraising for the Mental Health Initiative for Stress and Trauma (MIST) at the University of Calgary, aiming to raise $10 million for research, clinical trials, and treatments. The initiative was inspired by the loss of a close friend to suicide. 'If we help one, we've done our job,' Johnson said of the research efforts.
Trevor Johnson noted that his father always encouraged others to take chances and offered support, whether financial or moral. 'If there was ever a chance where he could help someone get the courage to take a chance and do something, he would be supporting,' Trevor said.
