Hugh Jackman Opens Laughing Man Coffee Shop for Charity

New Yorkers can now feel a little better about their caffeine highs. Hugh Jackman has recently opened the Laughing Man Coffee & Tea shop in New York, and 100% of the proceeds go to charity. Yes, 100%. Not half. Not a quarter. Not—okay, you know what 100% means.

The shop will sell tea, coffee and chocolates in order to raise money for the less fortunate. One of the charities they plan to help out is the Harlem Village Academies. During the store’s grand opening, Hugh Jackman even gave out free drinks to young fans who stopped by.

The store is part of Jackman’s already-established Laughing Man organization/charity he founded with his friends Barry and David Steingard. The actor says he got the idea when he met a coffee farmer named Dukale during a trip to Ethiopia in 2009.

“I met a man who changed the way I looked at the world,” Jackman said of the farmer. “As Dukale and I planted coffee trees together, I began to see the potential for one man’s hard work to transform an entire community.”

And it was then that Hugh says he felt “inspired” to give something back.

“I was so inspired by what I learned from him and his community. I made Dukale a promise to do my bit to help. Laughing Man Worldwide is the fulfillment of that promise.”

And in fact, to show he kept his promise, Jackman even named one of his brews after his coffee bean mentor. Dukale’s Dream is a dark espresso sold from the 200 square-foot Tribeca coffee shop.

The Laughing Man website further describes the company’s mission:

“Laughing Man Worldwide makes a difference in two ways. By using our resources to find, incubate and support companies and products that believe in the ALL BE HAPPY vision, we can do our part to create jobs, support the entrepreneurial spirit and encourage the ingenuity that is essential to community health. Second, through the successful incubation of companies and products Laughing Man Worldwide gives 100% of the profits it receives from those ventures to charity.”

Jackman shot to fame after his part in the X-Men franchise, and the actor is using his power for good:

“I’m going to use the best weapon I have -- which is not the Wolverine claws or my mutant powers, but my voice -- to speak on behalf of Dukale and a billion other people in developing countries who contribute the least to climate change and yet they are hit the hardest by it.”