AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A trial lawyer in Aurora is saying thank you to Colorado teachers by giving them virtual $20 gift cards for coffee. He says he has a soft spot in his heart for teachers because he used to be one.

Igor Raykin is a bit of a Renaissance man. He’s worn a few hats in his life.

“I was a journalist for a while, then I went to law school, and then I kind of lived a morally dissolute life and was a cab driver for a little while,” said Raykin.

Now Raykin is a trial lawyer in Aurora and specializes in civil rights education law. “It was the result of my experience as a teacher,” said Raykin.

Raykin taught high school for 10 years and says being a teacher is tough. “Frankly it was a lot tougher to be a teacher than it is to be a lawyer,” said Raykin.

Maybe that’s why he wanted to say thank you to educators.

“Why coffee? It was really the path of least resistance; I didn’t know what else to do for teachers,” said Raykin.

Raykin’s thank you to teachers is coming in the way of a virtual gift card from Starbucks. “That can get you, I don’t know, two or three cups of coffee,” said Raykin.

So far, he’s given out 50 coffee cards good for anything Starbucks offers.

“It could be a teacher, it could be a para professional, it could be a special service provider like a nurse or social worker,” said Raykin.

Nicky Yollick reached out to Raykin via Facebook and has created a GoFundMe page to help with fundraising.

“This is community helping community. This is making sure that basic needs are met, and my hope is we will see stuff like this springing up all over Colorado,” said Yollick.

Everything is done online and virtual, except when the recipient is sipping a nice hot café mocha and feeling just a little bit appreciated.