The Starbucks Foundation: Giving Back to Our Communities
Starbucks Celebrates Five Years of Supporting Literacy in B.C.

The story of the Starbucks Foundation begins with a book. Starbucks chairman, Howard Schultz, read Jonathan Kozol’s book Amazing Grace and was touched by its vivid portrayal of children living in the South Bronx, where broken families, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, low performance in school and hunger frequently characterized childhood for many.

Howard finished the book and decided that Starbucks should do more to address these kinds of issues in the communities where the company does business. In 1997, the Starbucks Foundation was born. Its mission: to create hope, discovery and opportunity in communities where Starbucks lives and works.

“We believe the words of a child who has learned to read, or the words of a family finding enrichment in new opportunity, are the reasons to give back and to give more.” - Howard Schultz, chairman and chief global strategist, Starbucks Coffee Company.

How We Support
The Starbucks Foundation, through grants to literacy and early learning programs, strives to improve lives, foster hope and involve parents in creating a better future for their children.

Every year the Starbucks Foundation gives grants to hundreds of local literacy programs serving low-income, at-risk youth. Starbucks focuses its literacy support in Family Literacy (children 0-5 and their families), Basic Literacy (children K-6), and “Language of Hope” (youth 12-21).

Starbucks partners (the Starbucks term for employees) participate actively in the grant process. Partners are encouraged to apply on behalf of literacy organizations in their neighbourhood. The Foundation supports programs that provide multiple opportunities for partners to participate both as individuals and as teams.

Here in B.C.
This year marks the Starbucks Foundation’s fifth year of supporting literacy here in western Canada. Local Starbucks partners have worked to identify numerous organizations and events and have spearheaded the support effort.

The Foundation has awarded over $127,000 in Opportunity Grants in western Canada. Nineteen organizations (fifteen in B.C.) have received grants ranging from $500 to $20,000; Literacy BC itself was a recipient of $5,000 grant in 1999; the most recent grant was awarded to Stride Avenue Community School to fund their Beginning to Read, Early Intervention Project. Eleven Starbucks locations are involved in the program, each store taking one month in which partners volunteer as tutors.

In addition to the Opportunity Grants, Starbucks also supports literacy through the Make Your Mark program, an internal program designed to encourage and support partners who volunteer in their local communities. Grant funds are used to support a charitable organization of the partners’ choice. Often partners have volunteered through reading in local schools or hosting in-store reading events for parents and children.

For the past five years, Starbucks has collected new and gently used books through its All Books for Children (ABC) Bookdrive. In last year’s event, 32,090 books and $25,034 were collected for the program across Western Canada. All books and cash donations supported programs offered by twenty-five local literacy organizations. The next ABC Book Drive is scheduled for April 2003.

Starbucks also gives back through other means. The company is a proud supporter of the Word on the Street reading festival, distributing materials through its locations. It also gives back doing what Starbucks does best: coffee. Starbucks stores donate product, food and coffee to help local organizations with their events and meetings.

Overall, Starbucks strives to support programs that weave relationships among parents, teachers, and Starbucks partners – neighbours helping neighbours – and aims to create a more hopeful environment for children.