Community service answers the question, “How can I be a good neighbor & create a place of belonging in my neighborhood?”

We aim to engage our local communities through our partners (employees), dream big about what we can accomplish and celebrate local events and projects. We hope to have every store globally engaging in service by 2020—and we want to celebrate every community moment we can!

At Starbucks we believe our store partners are the center of our communities- they have been serving proactively in their communities since Starbucks’ founding! We strive to make it a little easier for our partners to create projects and relationships with local organizations. By providing them with the resources and inspiration to own the engagement in their neighborhoods and build lasting relationships with community members and organizations, they help leave long-term impact on those same neighborhoods. We also invest in our communities through The Starbucks Foundation by providing grants to local organizations – in 2018 we supported over 80 local organizations recommended by our regional leaders in the U.S. and engaging thousands of partners in service around issues that they are passionate about. Additionally, across the globe, nearly 50,000 Starbucks partners participated in over 2800 projects during our Global Month of Service in April-that’s nearly 100 projects a day!

We believe service is an altruistic and deliberate effort to aid, uplift and add value to our communities. Sometimes this means participating in our year-round service activations related to projects that align to key social impact areas of focus. This includes support of opportunity youth through programs like mentoring and supporting veterans and military spouses by adopting units and creating relationships with local organizations like Blue Star Families. Through our partnership with Feeding America, partners also support local food banks and community agencies by donating food, providing financial support, and volunteering their time to help end hunger in their community. Additionally, partners are also working to keep their communities and our planet free of pollution and sustainable, through clean ups at parks and beaches, planting community gardens, and more!

Recently, we launched a new service program that engages retail partners by working part-time for six months at their Starbucks store and at a local Points of Light program location. These Service Fellows increase the capacity and impact of the local organization while also developing new skills and experiences. While still in pilot, we believe this program has the potential to strengthen communities and engage partners in new ways well beyond their service term.

These and many other programs are so important to our social impact work but sometimes, service also means simply hosting an event in our stores, which we consider community hubs, or providing a small community moment of kindness to someone in need.

We invite our partners, customers and community to join us in service to our communities. By visiting Starbucks.VolunteerMatch.org our customers and partners can find opportunities that are not only in their cities but that also align with their passions and interests. Together, we can leave the world just a little better than how we found it.

For more information reach out to CommunityService@Starbucks.com