Store manager Angela Floyd keeps a tree up all year at her Starbucks to benefit a different local nonprofit each month. Both customers and store partners pitch in to help.

core/paragraph

Last winter, shortly after&nbsp;joining Starbucks as a store&nbsp;manager in Oakland Gardens in Queens, New York, Angela Floyd put up a holiday tree in her&nbsp;store&nbsp;lobby,&nbsp;decorating&nbsp;it with scarves, gloves and hats&nbsp;which she donated to a local shelter at the end of the season.&nbsp;Liking the festive feel&nbsp;and community spirit,&nbsp;she decided to keep the tree&nbsp;up year-round.

“Each month, we pick a different nonprofit in the community to drive donations to,” Angela says. “It&nbsp;became&nbsp;our giving tree.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The tree is decorated to bring attention to the cause of the month, with&nbsp;fliers&nbsp;nearby, and store partners and customers pitch in to help.&nbsp;In the past year, Angela has organized toy drives for the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.rmhc.org/" target="_blank">Ronald McDonald House</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;party supplies donations for&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://longisland.birthdaywishes.org/" target="_blank">Birthday Wishes Long Island</a>, an organization that provides birthday parties for children experiencing homelessness.&nbsp;She’s used the tree to raise awareness of the Black Lives&nbsp;Matter movement&nbsp;and this&nbsp;winter, she plans to focus on food drives.&nbsp;&nbsp;

core/gallery

“I get a lot of conversations with customers about who I can work with next,” she says.

core/more

As fall began,&nbsp;a close friend referred her to&nbsp;a group called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Keys-To-Unlock-Your-Silence-432830000204534/">The Keys to Unlock Your Silence</a>, a local nonprofit&nbsp;in Jamaica, Queens,&nbsp;dedicated to providing comfort, support and resources for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Angela’s team and her customers&nbsp;– including several teachers –&nbsp;gathered and donated about $1,000 worth of backpacks and school supplies for families working with the&nbsp;nonprofit. Angela also helped secure&nbsp;a $2,500&nbsp;Neighborhood&nbsp;Grant from&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/the-starbucks-foundation-awards-neighborhood-grants-to-advance-racial-equity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Starbucks Foundation</a> for the organization in recognition of its role in promoting more inclusive and strong communities.

“These women and children are coming from homes that are broken and they’re dealing with so much personally,” Angela says.&nbsp;“Not necessarily having dealt with domestic violence, not myself personally, but knowing people that have gone through it, I just wanted to be a part of something to give them something that can help.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Angela, 37,&nbsp;has been working in retail for about 12 years, managing&nbsp;a&nbsp;restaurant in midtown Manhattan before&nbsp;joining Starbucks. The connections she’s been able to make with local community nonprofits through her store’s giving tree have been “a huge development piece for me,” she says.&nbsp;&nbsp;

At one point in her life, she was a single mother with young children. She can relate to the mission of many of the groups&nbsp;she works with,&nbsp;in that she too felt vulnerable because of life circumstances,&nbsp;“not knowing where that help was going to come from.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Being a good neighbor really means at the end of the day, it means we’re in this together,” Angela says. “We may not have the same viewpoints or financial means, but just remember, everyone’s going through something. Sometimes it’s the little things that are the biggest reminders that we all deserve to be respected, remembered, looked after and celebrated.&nbsp;

“It could be a hello. It could be holding the door. We all need that interaction and that connection.”

Angela Floyd keeps a tree up all year at her Starbucks to benefit a different local nonprofit each month. Customers and store partners pitch in to help.

A holiday tree became a year-round giving tree at a Queens Starbucks

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2019/01/Photo_TBD-320x411_1-1.jpg

Starbucks Corporation

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Angela-Meta.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/a-holiday-tree-became-a-year-round-giving-tree-at-a-queens-starbucks/

twitter:card

Store manager Angela Floyd keeps a tree up all year at her Starbucks to benefit a different local nonprofit each month. Both customers and store partners pitch in to help.

twitter:description

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Angela-Meta-1024x498.jpg

twitter:image

twitter:title

“When you see these children, I promise, you must love them,” says Rachel Liu, who volunteers at a Shanghai-based nonprofit that helps orphans, underprivileged children and kids with disabilities.

Rachel Liu had just started working as a part-time barista at a Starbucks in Shanghai in July 2018 when she heard Howard Schultz speak. The former chief executive officer of Starbucks had announced his retirement from the company a month prior and was visiting stores and partners in China.&nbsp;

“It was a big meeting,” recalls Rachel, 23. “He talked to us about working with love and creating a world of love,&nbsp;about using our coffee to connect to each other and to our neighborhood.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Taking that&nbsp;message&nbsp;to heart, Rachel decided&nbsp;to deepen her relationship with the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jiuqian.org/main/index.php/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jiu&nbsp;Qian Volunteer Center</a>, a&nbsp;Shanghai-based&nbsp;nonprofit with a mission to help underprivileged children&nbsp;reach their full potential through education. The&nbsp;organization also works with orphans,&nbsp;those with physical disabilities&nbsp;and children of migrant workers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rachel first heard about the organization five years ago and spent a summer during college volunteering there as an English teacher. Since joining Starbucks, she’s led teams of 10-12 local partners (employees) and sometimes even customers on regular monthly visits to volunteer.&nbsp;

The group works with about 30 children at a time. They come with decorations and cake to celebrate birthdays and lead after-school activities like music and cooking. Sometimes, they even demonstrate different methods of preparing coffee, a novelty for many who’ve grown up in a predominantly tea-drinking culture.&nbsp;

Rachel says the relationships&nbsp;there have impacted her deeply. Some of the students call her “teacher,” and many, she considers little brothers and sisters.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“To see&nbsp;the children’s smiling faces is my reward,” she says. “It’s my motivation and happiness. When you see these children, I promise, you must love them.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Earlier this year, concerns about COVID-19&nbsp;derailed the visits for a few months, and Rachel and her fellow partners focused their attention on doctors and nurses&nbsp;instead,&nbsp;delivering food and beverages to local hospitals fighting the virus. She remembers the words of encouragement written on every cup of coffee&nbsp;they handed out. “Keep fighting.” “We love you.” The trips to the children’s center&nbsp;have since resumed.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rachel finished school last year, earning a&nbsp;master’s degree in international tourism and management&nbsp;in the United Kingdom. She loves to travel and&nbsp;dreams of working&nbsp;in tourism in Europe.&nbsp;Until then, she’ll continue to&nbsp;give her time to the Jiu Qian Volunteer Center.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“The Starbucks mission is one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time,” Rachel says. “We have to take our social responsibility seriously.”&nbsp;

“When you see these children, I promise, you must love them,” says Rachel Liu, who volunteers at a Shanghai-based nonprofit that helps orphans.

A Shanghai barista leads Starbucks partners, customers to volunteer with kids each month

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-YangLiu-FeatureStandard.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/a-shanghai-barista-leads-starbucks-partners-customers-to-volunteer-with-kids-each-month/

“When you see these children, I promise, you must love them,” says Rachel Liu, who volunteers at a Shanghai-based nonprofit that helps orphans, underprivileged children and kids with disabilities.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-YangLiu-FeatureStandard-1024x498.jpg

When Liz Villarreal-Rowe, 55, and Jillian Sander, 18, heard about a plan for a free health clinic in their Ohio community, they worked together to help get funds for supplies and medicine.

Liz Villarreal-Rowe&nbsp;had&nbsp;the&nbsp;connection with&nbsp;the&nbsp;doctors.&nbsp;Jillian Sander&nbsp;knew the medical students.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Together, they joined forces –&nbsp;a&nbsp;store manager and&nbsp;a&nbsp;barista at a Starbucks in Maumee, Ohio – to write a grant proposal to help get money for a&nbsp;free&nbsp;neighborhood&nbsp;health&nbsp;clinic put on by the University of Toledo&nbsp;(UT) Medical&nbsp;School.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Liz, 55, the manager, has been going on&nbsp;annual&nbsp;medical missions to her native Guatemala for&nbsp;the last 16&nbsp;years.&nbsp;She’s&nbsp;the logistics manager, working with&nbsp;a&nbsp;university&nbsp;doctor who rounds up volunteers and leads the trip.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Jillian, 18, the barista, is a pre-veterinary student at UT. She&nbsp;befriended&nbsp;a group of regular customers –&nbsp;medical students&nbsp;–&nbsp;who&nbsp;often&nbsp;studied late into the night at&nbsp;her&nbsp;Starbucks.&nbsp;Inspired by their hard work, she teamed up with them for several years to donate and deliver food to clinics in the area. &nbsp;&nbsp;

When the&nbsp;COVID-19 pandemic hit,&nbsp;the university’s medical school, including some of those same doctors and students, helped launch&nbsp;a&nbsp;free&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.utoledo.edu/med/studentaffairs/organizations/ccc.html" target="_blank">CommunityCares&nbsp;Clinic</a>&nbsp;to help&nbsp;vulnerable people: those&nbsp;experiencing homelessness&nbsp;in&nbsp;downtown&nbsp;Toledo,&nbsp;people without&nbsp;insurance&nbsp;and migrant farming families in&nbsp;nearby&nbsp;rural&nbsp;communities. But they needed funds to buy&nbsp;supplies and medication.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Liz and Jillian heard about the&nbsp;clinic&nbsp;and&nbsp;nominated the organization&nbsp;for a Neighborhood Grant from The Starbucks Foundation. The grant, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/the-starbucks-foundation-selects-more-than-400-non-profits-in-latest-round-of-neighborhood-grants/">awarded to nonprofits supporting the COVID-19 response</a>, helped&nbsp;the clinic buy&nbsp;personal protective equipment, medicine and other supplies.

“You heard all these stories of people that didn’t have the means to go to the hospital, or hospitals that were being overwhelmed,” Liz says. “We cannot personally go, but we can help in this way.”&nbsp;

For Liz,&nbsp;staying open for a community with a hospital was important. They were able to provide doctors, nurses and other essential workers with coffee every day. For weeks, she and her team donated take-out containers of coffee to the hospital. It also gave her a chance to mentor her team through a crisis.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I know the opportunities I’ve had at Starbucks are invaluable,” says Liz,&nbsp;who’s&nbsp;been a store manager for seven years and has worked on dozens of community engagement projects. “For me, as a person, a professional, a mentor, I feel the need to share that wealth with everybody else. One of the ways to do it to help others grow, to pass the torch. I’m the oldest person in the store, so I like to bring along the kids and teach them.&nbsp;

“During the holidays, a lot of people share these positive feelings of joy and peace, but it doesn’t have to be only during December. We are capable of sharing these feelings throughout the year.”

Message received. Jillian,&nbsp;who’s&nbsp;worked at Starbucks since she was 16, credits Liz for&nbsp;inspiring her to&nbsp;develop a more positive mindset.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I definitely think I’ve learned over the last year to trust that things will work out, to try to make the situation around me better,” Jillian says. “All I can do is try and be positive on my end, and from there, keep the faith. It feels good to know that I’m not only making a customer connection, but I’m making a&nbsp;person-to-person&nbsp;connection, working together to do something for the community.”&nbsp;

When Liz and Jillian heard about a plan for a free health clinic in their Ohio community, they worked together to help get funds for supplies and medicine.

Starbucks manager and barista join forces to help get money for free health clinic

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Liz-FeatureStandard.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-manager-and-barista-join-forces-to-help-get-money-for-free-health-clinic/

When Liz Villarreal-Rowe, 55, and Jillian Sander, 18, heard about a plan for a free health clinic in their Ohio community, they worked together to help get funds for supplies and medicine.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Liz-FeatureStandard-1024x498.jpg

Miranda Hoffer, a Starbucks store manager and military spouse in Arkansas, says that serving others doesn’t have to be a massive gesture.

When&nbsp;Miranda Hoffer&nbsp;thinks about how she can change the world, she remembers a lesson she learned this year.

“Serving others and mission work isn’t necessarily about going halfway around the world to give malaria medicine,” says Miranda, a Starbucks store manager in Fort Smith, Arkansas. “Sometimes, it’s just as important to take a walk a couple blocks from where you live and serve a meal.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The need became clear when she started working with <a href="https://riverviewhopecampus.org/">Riverview Hope</a> Campus, a nearby nonprofit that works with low-income families and individuals, and those experiencing homelessness. The organization helps people with housing and resources and offers mental health services and skills training.

“We have several affluent neighborhoods in our area. If you drove through them, you wouldn’t think poverty and hunger is prevalent around here,” Miranda says. “Until you’re willing to step into that, to be exposed to that, that’s when you see how great the need is.”&nbsp;

On Friday nights earlier this year, Miranda and her store partners (employees) started volunteering with the Hope’s Casserole Program – a free weekly community meal. They made huge vats of deer-meat chili and dished out enormous trays of toast.

“It was eye-opening the first time we went,” Miranda recalls, “just to see how much it meant to everybody.”&nbsp;

COVID-19 has temporarily halted volunteer opportunities on Friday nights, but Miranda and her team still donate unsold sandwiches and pastries four or five times per week to Hope through the company’s <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/20-million-people-fed-through-starbucks-foodshare-program/">FoodShare</a> program. They also bag used coffee grounds, which Hope uses as fertilizer for the nonprofit’s gardening program.

And Miranda and her team have helped secure two Neighborhood Grants from&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/the-starbucks-foundation/">The Starbucks Foundation</a>, which Hope used to build shelving and increase its&nbsp;food-storage&nbsp;capacity.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“For me, community service is about how you show up consistently, not just one big project, nothing big or flashy, but that daily routine, that consistency,” Miranda says.&nbsp;“It just reinforces for us that even though we’re way out here in Fort Smith, Arkansas, what we do matters, it’s making an impact. You can build lasting community relationships and they can be sustained even in times like this.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Miranda wants to be an inspiration&nbsp;for her team, especially young women. She was adopted from China when she was&nbsp;6 months old and has two adopted siblings. She finished school through the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.starbucks.com/careers/working-at-starbucks/education" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starbucks College Achievement Plan</a>, which offers qualifying partners 100 percent tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online degree program.&nbsp;Her husband serves in the National Guard.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I’m proud to be a young store manager, proud to be female, proud of being Asian,” Miranda says. “Growing up, I didn’t see people in leadership roles that looked like me. I think that matters. It matters for the customers who come in, to see that representation. It matters for our partners.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Miranda Hoffer, a Starbucks store manager and military spouse in Arkansas, says that serving others doesn’t have to be a massive gesture.

A Starbucks store manager helps those in need, one meal at a time

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Miranda-Meta.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/a-starbucks-store-manager-helps-those-in-need-one-meal-at-a-time/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Miranda-Meta-1024x498.jpg

As Starbucks partners like Miguel Barajas support front-line responders – volunteering shoulder-to-shoulder in response to the global pandemic – Starbucks as a company is too, providing free coffee and making donations to strengthen their mental health.

Early in the spring, as the&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;pandemic grew more and more&nbsp;serious,&nbsp;Miguel Barajas was stuck at home. The Starbucks in Austin, Texas, where he worked as a shift supervisor, was closed&nbsp;and he didn’t know when it would&nbsp;re-open. Then an email arrived.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Global Surgical and Medical Support Group&nbsp;wanted&nbsp;veteran volunteers to work at a makeshift field hospital in New York City, one of the&nbsp;first&nbsp;COVID-19 epicenters&nbsp;in the U.S.&nbsp;A former Army medic, Miguel&nbsp;applied.&nbsp;A&nbsp;week later, he was on a plane.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It was pretty early on, and no one really knew what was happening,” Miguel says. “I&nbsp;just&nbsp;saw people suffering, and I wanted to help.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Miguel, 37,&nbsp;spent most of&nbsp;April&nbsp;working with a team&nbsp;organized by New York Presbyterian Hospital,&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://healthmatters.nyp.org/mobilizing-to-treat-covid-19-patients-a-field-hospital-is-born/" target="_blank">inside an athletic complex&nbsp;at Columbia University</a>, during the first peak of the pandemic in New York City.&nbsp;The hospital had about 200 beds.&nbsp;Every day, he&nbsp;put on two&nbsp;masks, goggles,&nbsp;a blue&nbsp;hat&nbsp;and&nbsp;scrubs, working to&nbsp;comfort and&nbsp;stabilize COVID patients, giving medication and shots.&nbsp;

core/image

A native Spanish speaker,&nbsp;Miguel also became a translator,&nbsp;helping many of the Spanish-speaking patients from nearby neighborhoods like Harlem and the Bronx navigate the medical system.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“We definitely went through tragedy, a lot of terrible things that happened,” Miguel says. “But there were a lot of success stories. We sent dozens upon dozens of people back to their families.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Those were the early, eerie days of the pandemic. Miguel remembers walking through Times Square&nbsp;one night. He saw no cars and maybe four other people.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Miguel enlisted in the Army&nbsp;later than most,&nbsp;when he was 29 years old. He’d worked in the banking industry in California&nbsp;for eight&nbsp;years,&nbsp;but&nbsp;grew disillusioned&nbsp;making money while putting others in debt. He’d been carrying around a picture of his brother, Guillermo, who&nbsp;died while serving in the Marine Corps.&nbsp;On the back,&nbsp;his brother had written, “You better join.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 2012,&nbsp;Miguel&nbsp;quit banking,&nbsp;enlisted and&nbsp;ended up at Fort Hood, Texas. In 2014, he&nbsp;deployed to Kuwait&nbsp;as part of a medical brigade helping set up mobile hospitals and supporting combat operations&nbsp;in the Middle East.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The&nbsp;mission to New York,&nbsp;which lasted three weeks,&nbsp;“was definitely an experience that made me grow,” Miguel says. “I saw it firsthand, that lesson of living in the present. We get tied up with so many different things in life, we forget that the most important thing and the greatest thing is what we’re living for in this very moment.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Miguel is back at his store now, studying to finish his sustainability degree through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan (SCAP) benefit, which offers qualifying partners 100 percent tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program. And he’s also working a remote internship with a team at the Starbucks Support Center, helping grow the company’s greener stores certification program.

As partners like Miguel support front-line&nbsp;responders. Starbucks as a company is too. In continued gratitude for everything they do for our communities, Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/navigating-through-covid-19/">will offer a free tall brewed coffee (iced or hot) to front-line responders</a> at participating U.S. stores throughout the month of December. Starbucks has already provided more than four million cups of free coffee to front-line responders this year.

Also, to support the mental health of front-line responders, Starbucks this year has donated $100,000 to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nami.org/Home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Alliance on Mental Illness</a>&nbsp;and $250,000 to the <a href="https://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/">David Lynch Foundation</a> to&nbsp;support mental-health research.&nbsp;&nbsp;

And, The Starbucks Foundation has donated $250,000 to <a href="https://www.operationgratitude.com/">Operation Gratitude</a> for COVID-19 support, which has resulted in 300,000 care packages delivered to front-line responders around the world. Starbucks is partnering again with Operation Gratitude to send 10,000 red holiday cups and whole-bean coffee as part of surprise holiday care packages to front-line responders throughout the U.S.&nbsp;

As Starbucks partners like Miguel Barajas support front-line responders – volunteering shoulder-to-shoulder in response to the global pandemic – Starbucks as a company is too.

A Texas Starbucks partner and former Army medic volunteers at NY hospital

With his store closed, a Texas Starbucks partner and former Army medic volunteers at NY hospital

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Miguel-FeatureStandard.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/with-his-store-closed-a-texas-starbucks-partner-and-former-army-medic-volunteers-at-ny-hospital/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-Miguel-FeatureStandard-1024x498.jpg

Store manager Ann-Marie Lee-Teahen began volunteering with the Canucks Autism Network, located across the street from her Starbucks, to help out. Along the way learned a lot about empathy and patience.

It was no coincidence when Ann-Marie Lee-Teahen got involved with Canucks Autism Network (CAN) nearly eight years ago. CAN’s headquarters at the time was located just across the street from the Starbucks store she managed in Vancouver, B.C., and many CAN employees were her regular customers.&nbsp;

But after she became her district’s community lead, her relationship with the nonprofit went beyond knowing the office workers’ favorite go-to beverages to being much more personal.

“A store manager in our district has a son who has autism, and she was involved with CAN. We witnessed first-hand how much her son benefited from their programs,” Lee-Teahen explains. “There’s not a lot of funding for autism, so [my baristas and I] wanted to donate our time.”&nbsp;

Lee-Teahen and other Starbucks partners started volunteering weekly at CAN’s office by helping organize program supplies. From there, volunteer opportunities quickly expanded to helping with event setups, ushering and, of course, serving coffee.

Over the last six years, Lee-Teahen and other Starbucks partners have volunteered at CAN Family Festival, CAN Relay 4 Autism, CAN Festival of Lights, CAN Pro-Am and more.

“I never knew how much of an impact this [volunteer] journey would have on my career and life,” says Lee-Teahen, who is now a 10-year Starbucks partner. “I only knew a little bit about autism when I started. But through being in the presence of people with autism, it’s taught me a lot about empathy and patience.”

Lee-Teahen tries to get Starbucks partners in different districts involved in supporting people with autism &nbsp;because there’s so much the partners can learn from the experience, such as how to speak to people with autism or how to be patient, she says.

“It can be hard for some people to understand. I’ve learned you have to allow [people with autism] to do their routine,” she explains. “Through the training with CAN, I’m now able to pick that up with certain customers and I’ve been able to educate my team on why that customer’s order might be difficult and needs to be so precise. Maybe it’s autism. You have to assume positive intent for us to be able to deliver our Barista Promise to always make the moment right.”

Besides volunteering, Lee-Teahen and her district of South-Central Vancouver have also helped support CAN by nominating the organization for The Starbucks Foundation’s <a href="https://stories.starbucks.ca/en/stories/2020/the-starbucks-foundation-invests-145k-in-grants-to-support-local-communities-across-canada/">Neighborhood Grants</a>. And despite COVID-19, partners have continued to volunteer by helping CAN fundraise virtually.

“We’re leaders in a way where we give back to our communities,” says Lee-Teahen. “A lot of nonprofits don’t get a lot of funding, and there’s still a lot of awareness that needs to happen. I want to be one of those people to help bring more light to [autism].”

Store manager Ann-Marie Lee-Teahen began volunteering with the Canucks Autism Network, located across the street from her Starbucks, to help out.

Volunteering with Canucks Autism Network changed this Starbucks partner

Volunteering with Canucks Autism Network changed this Starbucks partner’s outlook

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-AnnMarie-Meta.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/volunteering-with-canucks-autism-network-changed-this-starbucks-partners-outlook/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201204-GTAH-AnnMarie-Meta-1024x498.jpg

Last month, Jay McNair received a surprise gift that brought back fond memories of his Starbucks journey.

Cara Castellow, a barista in Winterville, N.C., had nominated NC CIVIL (Community &amp; Industry Value Interactionist League), a nonprofit organization in Greenville, N.C., for a <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/the-starbucks-foundation-selects-more-than-400-non-profits-in-latest-round-of-neighborhood-grants/">Neighborhood Grant</a> earlier this year. When she heard back that NC CIVIL was awarded a $2,500 grant from The Starbucks Foundation, she waited a couple of weeks before calling Jay, as she wanted the nominator to be anonymous and a surprise at first.

Jay founded NC CIVIL to strengthen the local community by focusing on outreach and partnership development with other organizations, businesses and community members for community-based initiatives that activate young people and residents as change-makers in underserved neighborhoods. The partnerships also aim to improve access to training, mentoring and community resources for job seekers, including at-risk youth, as well as remove barriers within hiring processes to promote equity and create a pathway to employment opportunities.

Jay happens to be a Starbucks alum who worked as a barista at Cara's store before she joined Starbucks and is now their regular customer.

"Jay is a good person, and NC CIVIL focuses on finding community-based solutions that create effective change. A community-centered organization like NC CIVIL knows their community and always has the community at the forefront of their minds," Cara said. "I was so excited and thought it was super cool to see the grant happening on a personal level."

When Cara finally called Jay to let him know that she had nominated NC CIVIL, he had already been notified of the grant and deeply appreciated her support.

"I'm really honored and encouraged that someone thought enough of our work to put time and energy into filling out an application on our behalf," Jay said. "It came from an unexpected place, which means so much. I'm truly grateful."

When Jay began his Starbucks journey as a barista in 2010, his store manager was aware of his passion for doing community work and created opportunities for Jay to lead the store's community service efforts to support him. In this role, Jay gained experience in spearheading service projects and built relationships in the community, which boosted his confidence and drive to launch NC CIVIL in 2013.

"I grew up in an underserved neighborhood in Greenville and wanted to create an organization that supports and strengthens the local community that I came from," Jay said. "Starbucks ended up being my launch pad that provided opportunities to get involved in the community, develop connections, and step out on my own."

As Jay's work with NC CIVIL expanded and grew busier, requiring more of his time, he decided it was the right moment to leave Starbucks in 2015 to focus on his passion and love for doing community work.

"Working at Starbucks was an awesome experience and I really valued my time as a partner in so many ways," Jay says. "Starbucks has been a huge part of my journey, and I'm thankful for that time and the connections, and especially my Starbucks family who I'm still connected with and is so much a part of my life story."

starbucks-blocks/story-grid

Partners give Starbucks alum an unexpected gift - Starbucks Stories

Partners give Starbucks alum an unexpected gift

Former Starbucks partner receives grant from The Starbucks Foundation to support a local nonprofit that he launched to support youth and neighborhoods.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201201-GTAH-Featured-Image.jpg

Partners give Starbucks alum an unexpected gift to strengthen Greenville community

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/partners-give-starbucks-alum-an-unexpected-gift-to-strengthen-greenville-community/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/12/SBX20201201-GTAH-Featured-Image-1024x498.jpg

A pitcher of cold brew in the refrigerator makes everything a little better.

Arlene De La Cruz is a district manager in New York, who helped open the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/starbucks-reserve-roastery-begins-its-unique-new-york-state-of-grind/">Starbucks Reserve Roastery in New York</a> in 2018. From her own home kitchen in the Washington Heights neighborhood, she will show you how to make this smooth, delicious staple using a piece of brewing equipment you may already have – a coffee press.

“Cold brew is one of my favorite year-round beverages, I drink it all year,” she said. “I’ll show you an easy way to make it at home.”

But wait, there’s more – she’ll also show you how to give your cold brew a sophisticated twist inspired by two favorites on the menu at <a href="https://www.starbucksreserve.com/en-us/visit">Starbucks Reserve Roastery locations</a> around the world.*

core/heading

Here’s what you’ll need: coffee press, ground Starbucks® coffee (we love a medium roast) and water. &nbsp;

Scoop 82 grams (about 1 cup or 8 coffee scoops) of coarse-ground coffee into an 8-cup coffee press. Pour 2 cups of cool water into press. Stir with a spoon or spatula to wet the coffee grounds.

3. Place plunger and brew

Cover, but don’t plunge, and place in refrigerator. Allow to steep in the refrigerator 16-20 hours.

Take finished cold brew out of the fridge and slowly plunge the coffee press. This yields about 8 cups of cold brew concentrate. Pour into another container (such as a pitcher or large jar) and store up to seven days in refrigerator. Fill a glass of ice halfway with cold brew concentrate and top with a few ounces of cold water to enjoy as is, or keep going to learn how to give your cold brew a tasty twist.

core-embed/youtube

Short on time? You can always pick up <a href="https://athome.starbucks.com/product/cold-brew-multi-serve-concentrate-signature-black/">Starbucks Cold Brew Concentrate</a> at the grocery store.

Now, the (even more) fun part

Inspired by the coffee + ice cream beverages at the Starbucks Reserve Roasteries, the cold brew float features creamy swirls of vanilla ice cream mingling with the coffee’s smooth chocolate notes.

Cold Brew Float

starbucks-blocks/recipe

Taking inspiration from the Roasteries’ Sparkling Citrus Espresso beverage which features espresso shaken with ice and poured over sparkling tonic and aromatic bitters, this is a fizzy and flavorful mocktail for whenever you’re feeling fancy.

Cold Brew Tonic

core/separator

* Select Starbucks Reserve® Roastery beverages, whole-bean coffee and merchandise are now available for delivery in Seattle, New York, and Chicago through <a href="https://delivery.starbucks.com/">Starbucks Delivers</a> via the Uber Eats.

It’s official: Starbucks cold brew is essential, year-round. We’ll show you how to make this smooth, delicious cold coffee at home.

Insider tips on how to make cold brew – and a cold brew float

Insider tips on making Starbucks cold brew – and a cold brew float

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/08/SBX20200825-Blog-SAH-Float-Feature.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/insider-tips-on-how-to-make-cold-brew-and-a-cold-brew-float/

It’s official: Starbucks cold brew is essential, year-round. We’ll show you how to make this smooth, delicious cold coffee at home, plus a couple of surprising twists.

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/08/SBX20200825-Blog-SAH-Float-Feature-1024x498.jpg

This week, Starbucks store lead Kirti Sharma and her all-female team opened a new café in the heart of Delhi, one of two new Starbucks stores in India staffed entirely by women. Sharma, the first woman in her family to enter the workforce, wants both her team and the world to know that women, ‘we can do anything.’

Kirti Sharma is the first woman in her family to have a career.

This week, the 23-year-old store lead helped open a Starbucks in India led entirely by a team of women. Her store, in the heart of India’s capital of Delhi, is the first of two all-female stores to open this week in the country with more to come.

“Times are changing in India. &nbsp;We have to make a change in our society. We have to start it from our homes,” Sharma said. “I always coach my team that we, as women, we can do anything. All the work men can do, we can do as well, and we will. I am so proud of them and I am 100 percent sure they will achieve anything they want to achieve in their lives.”

A&nbsp;2019&nbsp;report from the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS" target="_blank">World Bank</a>&nbsp;found&nbsp;that&nbsp;in India,&nbsp;only about 20 percent of working-age women participate in the labor force. An&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://qz.com/india/1528973/indias-billionaires-added-308-million-a-day-in-2018-says-oxfam/" target="_blank">Oxfam report</a>&nbsp;on inequality,&nbsp;published in January of 2019,&nbsp;revealed that&nbsp;women&nbsp;in the workplace&nbsp;receive 34 percent less pay than their male counterparts for the same work. The all-female Starbucks stores aim to help address both of those inequalities while also providing women a supportive and encouraging work environment.

Sharma, who started her first full-time job at Starbucks in 2018 after graduating with a degree in hotel management, said her parents are proud – her mother in particular.

“I still remember the day when I gave my first income to my mom and she was very happy. She started crying,” Sharma said.&nbsp; “She told me, ‘Our daughter has done something which we had dreamt of.’ That was a very proud and most emotional moment for me.”

She was also the first in her family to leave their hometown of Delhi for school. In 2014, she traveled across India to Bangalore to study hotel management. A Starbucks recruiter came to her college to do interviews and offered the 60 students in her class a coffee tasting. It was the first time she’d ever tasted coffee. She immediately applied for a job.

“I remember it was Indian Estate Blend, and I can still remember how beautifully she explained about that coffee, about the herbal notes and flavors and everything,” Sharma said. “That sip of coffee inspired me to join Starbucks. Because of that sip, I am here. Destiny took me here as well.”

Starbucks came to India in 2012, operated through a joint venture between Starbucks and Tata Global Beverages. Tata Starbucks has been at the forefront of providing opportunities for women and promoting equity, inclusion and diversity in India. Currently, 28 percent of Starbucks partners in India are women with the goal of achieving 40 percent gender diversity by the end of 2022. Tata Starbucks has achieved 100 percent gender pay equity and was the first food and beverage retailer in India to offer a five-day work schedule. Tata Starbucks also offers its partners childcare assistance, flexible working hours and family leave. Sharma said policies like these have already opened doors for women.

“Every partner wants to work with Tata Starbucks because of its culture, values and the partner friendly policies. It gives equal opportunity for men and women. It gives us confidence, supports us and makes us feel that there is somebody who is listening to us,” Sharma said. “And the five-day work week and part-time and weekend policies mean partners can study and work side-by-side and achieve their dreams.”

“My vision is that I want to retire with Tata Starbucks,” she said.

This week, Starbucks store lead Kirti Sharma and her all-female team opened a new café in the heart of Delhi, one of two new Starbucks stores in India staffed entirely by women.

Starbucks opens two all-female stores in India

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/08/SBX20200820-Blog-AllWomenStore-Feature.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-opens-two-all-female-stores-in-india/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/08/SBX20200820-Blog-AllWomenStore-Feature-1024x498.jpg

It’s a proud moment when your pup makes it onto the “Four-legged Wall of Fame” at this Starbucks drive-thru in Atlanta, Ga. The baristas enjoy doggy visitors so much, they decided to celebrate them with their very own photo wall.

The team at Spring &amp; 4th Street Northwest has embraced the four-legged crowd with extra enthusiasm. When partners saw their favorite canine customers coming through the drive-thru, “it made their whole day,” says Emily Matthews, the store manager. Regulars are known not just by their favorite drink order, but also by their dogs. Sometimes, baristas would even write the dog’s name on their cup.

“And customers just loved it,” Matthews says.

Matthews recognized that this was a real moment of connection at her store and wanted to make it even bigger. She got a Polaroid camera and started snapping photos of the dogs at the window. She writes the dog’s name on each picture and puts it up for all to see.

“We actually had a customer tell us he was on his way back from the gym and was going to come through our drive-thru,” Matthews says. “He went home to get his dog, Winter, and then came back, just so he had the dog.”

Now the “Four-Legged Wall of Fame” greets all drive-thru customers, and any pup passengers.

“Every time the customer comes through, the dog is part of the store, essentially,” Matthews says. “We’ve seen some of the dogs actually pose for us. They get so excited to get their picture taken.”

The beloved pets of customers going through the drive thru are featured on a Georgia stores’ “Four-legged Wall of Fame."

Dogs have their day at Atlanta Starbucks

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/08/SBX2020-Dog-Wall-of-Fame-Featured-Image-002.jpg

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/dogs-have-their-day-at-atlanta-starbucks/

https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2020/08/SBX2020-Dog-Wall-of-Fame-Featured-Image-002-1024x498.jpg

Ty Barbone grew up in in a single-room house on the Navajo Nation territory, without running water, refrigeration or electricity. The oldest of four children, he remembers doing his homework by candlelight throughout high school. His life partner, Dwayne Hogue, grew up in a similar situation, very isolated, about five or six miles away from his nearest neighbor.

When you don’t have much, you try not to take things for granted. That’s why their efforts to bring water and other essential resources to the Navajo Nation – to their people – are especially significant during the COVID-19 crisis.

Barbone, a Starbucks store manager in Gallup, N.M., and Hogue, a Navajo Nation police officer, are working with local Starbucks leadership and local businesses to make sure basic supplies are reaching those who need it most.

“It’s a challenge, it’s hard,” Barbone says. “But you have to take on the challenges. Life isn’t easy. I can still hear my parents in the background: ‘Yéego Nanilnish, Yéego Nanilnish.’ Work hard, work hard (in Navajo).”

The <a href="https://www.navajo-nsn.gov/">Navajo Nation</a> – the largest American Indian territory in the United States – has experienced <a href="https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200609/covid-19-ravages-the-navajo-nation#1">coronavirus infection rates higher than New York</a>, making it one of the hardest-hit areas in the world. The territory covers approximately 27,000 square miles – about the size of West Virginia – and sprawls across parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

good things are happening