Growing up, Alyssa Hammond looked up to Diana, Princess of Wales, who used her position to raise money and awareness for numerous humanitarian causes – leftover landmines from wars, abandoned children living with HIV/AIDS, stigma against lepers. 

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When Alyssa was promoted several years ago to Starbucks district manager in Stockton, Calif., she started to meet local families struggling financially. And she found her own cause to champion – fighting hunger.

“Someday I hope I am a good-will ambassador for something amazing,” Alyssa remembers thinking. “Why can’t I do that at work?” 

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So, alongside other Starbucks partners, she began volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank in California’s Central Valley, part of the <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/">Feeding America</a> network, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. Starbucks teamed up with Feeding America in 2016 to launch Starbucks® <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/20-million-people-fed-through-starbucks-foodshare-program/">FoodShare</a>, which delivers unused, nourishing Starbucks food to nonprofits around the U.S.

Alyssa volunteered at mobile food pantries, took supplies to tent cities and led company meetings at Second Harvest’s conference room to keep the community’s food insecurity at the forefront of her store managers’ minds. She was recently invited to sit on Second Harvest’s board of directors. 

With the global coronavirus pandemic causing record unemployment and food insecurity skyrocketing everywhere, Starbucks is working with Feeding America to get food to people who need it most. 

The Starbucks Foundation is donating $1 million to Feeding America’s Covid-19 response fund and $25,000 to the Food Bank for New York City. Starbucks, as part of its hometown support efforts, is also giving $250,000 to Northwest Harvest in Seattle. 

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It’s a company-wide commitment, says Jane Maly, Starbucks FoodShare program manager. Starbucks is making sure all unused food and ingredients from its stores, distribution centers and Princi kitchens are ending up with foodbanks or other local community partners. 

“Now, more than ever, there should be no food thrown away,” Jane says. 

An estimated 37 million Americans are already struggling with hunger. During the pandemic, food banks are facing a worrisome combination of spiking demand and decreasing donations and volunteers, who can’t get out because of quarantine measures and concerns about personal safety. An estimated 17 million more people may face hunger over the next six months issues due to the impacts of COVID-19, according to Feeding America’s forecast. 

“Good neighbors protect themselves and their communities and they do what they can to help each other. &nbsp;There are people near you right now who are in need of a helping hand,” says Claire Babineaux-Fontentot, Feeding America’s chief executive officer. “I anticipate that all of us will face hardships over the coming weeks, but I also believe that as we do, we will not lose sight of the humanity we possess, and that solidarity will triumph over adversity.” 

For Alyssa, her mission to help ensure no food goes to waste means getting Starbucks food from her 14 stores to local foodbanks and churches; trucks usually pick up the unsold food every night. It means contacting the sheriff’s department so deputies can take it to senior citizen homes. It means constantly staying in touch with anyone and everyone in the community who needs to eat, and delivering items personally when necessary. 

Alyssa, who started with Starbucks 17 years ago as a teenage barista, is most worried about her community’s kids, who might not be getting enough food at home with schools closed and so many parents in the area having lost jobs. She’s still haunted by the memory of a malnourished child she met during a tent city visit. 

“All those kids who don’t have access to food, that should be on everybody’s mind,” she says. “As a leader, these are the things I should be doing with my position. This is how I influence my people to be better people.” 

Starbucks is also supporting local food banks with resources and logistics, reassigning trucks that usually supply stores but are now idle because of widespread closures. Drivers with Quality Custom Distribution (QCD) in Kent, Wash., and Penske Corp. in San Diego, are helping deliver food for food banks in their communities instead.

Malcolm Williamson, 31, is one of those drivers. He drives a 20-foot box truck for QCD and supplies Starbucks in Western Washington. It’s been tough at work, with less product to move because of the store closures, and at home too, he says. Malcolm has two children, including a 1-year old. His older son would be deep into basketball games and tournaments by now, but all that’s been canceled as well. 

“It’s just been a hit on everybody, it’s brought everything to a halt, financially, personally,” says Malcolm, the son of a retired Air Force airman. “But I just feel like it’s so important for everybody to come together. It takes something like this to take a step back and think about the next person. It just means a lot for everybody, for families in need. It’s a great thing, to help out, in any way we can.” 

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As food bank need spikes, Starbucks and Feeding America fight hunger together - Starbucks Stories

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As food bank need spikes, Starbucks and Feeding America fight hunger together

With the global coronavirus pandemic causing record unemployment and food insecurity to skyrocket, Starbucks and Feeding America are committed to getting food to those who need it most.

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Barboursville, West Virginia – It’s safe to say that when the phone rang at the Barboursville Starbucks, nobody expected it to be Sharon, a customer who visits the drive-thru each day for a venti caramel Frappuccino with her beloved miniature dachshund, Gaston, riding shotgun.

“Gaston is a favorite. Everyone comes to say hi when they come to the window. People just love him, he’s so sweet,” said Nichole Arthur, a shift supervisor at the store. “Another partner and I would always play argue over who gets to dogsit him first.”

Sharon was calling to say she was in the hospital, and because she has no family nearby, she wondered if Nichole, her favorite barista, could take care of Gaston until she got home. Nichole, who has her own miniature dachshund, Roxy Gurl (“yes, that’s her full name”) said, “Of course!” A neighbor dropped the dog to Nichole at the store, and she took him home to be with Roxy until his owner is feeling better.

“Look who I get to cuddle tonight! Hahaha, I got him first,” Nichole said in a text to her store partners, accompanied by a photo of Gaston in her front seat.

“During the midst of all the chaos with COVID-19, Nichole didn’t hesitate to volunteer to help one of our regular customers. I love the fact we made such a connection with this customer she felt comfortable enough to call us and take us up on our constant offers to dogsit,” said Ben Johnson, the store’s manager. “Nichole is super humble. She doesn’t see what the big deal is. I told her, ‘Nichole, a lot of people offer to do stuff like that, but very few follow up on it.’ She just shrugged and said, ‘I love our customers, and I love animals.’”

-- by Jennifer Warnick / Illustration by Henry Jarman

All dogs go to Starbucks - Starbucks Stories

“Gaston is a favorite. Everyone comes to say hi when they come to the window. People just love him, he’s so sweet,” said Nichole Arthur, a shift supervisor at the store.

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All dogs go to Starbucks

Tulsa, Okla. – The day after Starbucks announced it would give <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/navigating-through-covid-19/">free coffee to all first responders</a> across the country, Lauren Merhi wondered what else she could do.

A Starbucks barista hired last September, Lauren works at a store across the street from Saint Francis Hospital, the biggest in Tulsa. Many of the store’s regular customers are medical personnel and hospital staff. Every morning, the store preps for the daily “nurse rush.”

“How can we show appreciation and how can we get the community involved?” she wondered. 

Her idea? A pay-it-forward campaign, with a twist.

Periodically, in Starbucks drive-thrus around the world, chains of people paying for the order of the person behind them spring up spontaneously. But Lauren had the idea of funneling that spirit of customer kindness in a different way, by inviting those who want to help to buy snacks for medical personnel, hospital staff and other first responders.

“It’s being able to make a difference in a time when a lot of people don’t have a lot of control over the situation,” Lauren says. “It’s something small that people can contribute, during a time when people may need something small like that.” 

The purchased snacks are put in a bin, and store partners add a note of encouragement. If someone drives up with a hospital badge or medical scrubs or is obviously a first responder, partners offer a free snack. So far, the store has given away about 300 items: protein bars, chips, cookies, nuts. The idea has already caught on with another store in the district. 

“We let them know it’s been bought by people in the community who want to show appreciation,” says Jenna Akuma, the store manager. “It’s not just Starbucks doing this. It’s friends and neighbors. It’s been overwhelmingly supportive. Everybody’s pitched in to just lift the community up.” 

One regular customer, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Saint Francis, agreed to match all snacks purchased last Saturday – a total of 49. Then the doctor purchased 49 more on Sunday and delivered them all to the nurses and staff in the labor and delivery ward. 

“A lot of people feel like anything they do isn’t big enough,” says the doctor, who wishes to remain anonymous. “But the truth is, the simplest things are exactly what people need right now.”

Jenna and Lauren hope the idea catches on, and inspires others to think about how they can be kind and keep creating community during hard times. 

“I hope that it inspires our customers to find something they can do,” Lauren says. “My gears are turning. I’m trying to think of something else that can involve us in our community. There are people that deserve to be appreciated, all the time.”

-- by Michael Ko / Illustration by Henry Jarman

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Starbucks customers help pay it forward with free snacks for medical personnel - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks customers help pay it forward with free snacks for medical personnel

“A lot of people feel like anything they do isn’t big enough. But the truth is, the simplest things are exactly what people need right now.”

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Music has always played an essential role in Starbucks culture. The company’s music team hand-picks the artists and songs that provide the soundtrack for partners and customers at cafes around the world. 

Knowing how important music can be, especially in difficult times, the music team invited Starbucks partners to share what they’re listening to right now and used their responses to create two essential playlists for the right now – <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hxVgTuEEw4tJyCQqkLJRj?si=2lm9BbtDQmyv8emgvPQ13g">Peace</a>, a playlist of calming and comforting songs, and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0caUYHmKe8OFkFKFpfaHWA?si=5xGHojX-Tk-4wJWtNz-B_g">Let’s Dance</a>, a collection of upbeat, positive and cheerful music.

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Starbucks mixtapes: Two Spotify playlists the world needs - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks mixtapes: Two Spotify playlists the world needs

Starbucks partners collaborated to create two Spotify playlists of the artists and songs bringing them peace and happiness right now.

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Philadelphia – One of the strongest public health recommendations for slowing the spread of the coronavirus is to wash your hands. But what happens if you don’t have access to soap and water?

That was the question suddenly facing <a href="https://www.broadstreetministry.org/">Broad Street Ministry</a> (BSM) in Philadelphia, which serves about 6,000 vulnerable people every year, guests who are homeless, living on the margins or just needing a place to start after being evicted or released from prison. BSM provides lunch every weekday, a mail stop and other social services.

The answer was simple. Since March 17, BSM has put up 12 temporary handwashing stations around the city, adorned with murals, in places where at-risk populations usually congregate. An estimated 2,000 people are now using them every day to wash their hands, helping slow the spread of the virus in Philadelphia, according to Nicole McDonald, BSM’s director of community relations. 

Starbucks partners have long had an ongoing relationship with BSM; every store in the city has sent volunteers to work with the organization. Many were planning on doing so again in April for the company’s Global Month of Good campaign.

“Broad Street Ministry is a key community partner for Starbucks,” says Marcus Eckensberger, Starbucks regional director in Philadelphia. “Their radical hospitality approach provides us opportunities to support those who are experiencing scarcity in our community in a way that is aligned with Starbucks mission and values.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, The Starbucks Foundation provided funding to help support the handwashing stations. 

As part of the project, BSM also partnered with Mural Arts Philadelphia to create simple, positive signs that share tips about handwashing and public health and offers messages of support. One mural measures what proper social distance looks like, showing two people at opposite ends of a couch, six feet apart. 

The stations come with 40 gallons of water, offer soap and paper towels and are operated with a foot pump. They’re refilled once or twice per week. 

“The population that goes to Broad Street Ministry is a largely invisible population,” says Nicole, who helped develop the idea. She hopes these stations make visible “a conversation about what does public health precautions look like for everybody? There is a privilege in being able to quarantine at home, and just being able to wash your hands.”&nbsp; 

BSM operates with a philosophy of “radical hospitality,” which means it accepts everyone regardless of background. It also guides how they usually serve lunch, for example, every Monday through Friday, with linens and plates, silverware and tableside service. BSM served 71,000 meals last year. During the pandemic, BSM is offering to-go meals. 

“It’s hard to recognize the level of need that one neighbor has over the other; you truly don’t know,” Nicole says. “This crisis is showing us how interlocked we all are, and that if any of us are vulnerable, we’re all vulnerable. That’s part of the reason why these handwashing stations are so important. We truly are all in this together.” 

Broad Street Ministry, The Starbucks Foundation to bring handwashing stations to homeless - Starbucks Stories

Broad Street Ministry, The Starbucks Foundation to bring handwashing stations to homeless

One of the strongest public health recommendations for slowing the spread of the coronavirus is to wash your hands. But what happens if you don’t have access to soap and water?

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Broad Street Ministry, Starbucks partner to bring temporary handwashing stations to homeless

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New York City – Doctors and nurses from all over the country are traveling to New York City to help the city’s hard-hit hospitals overwhelmed by the influx of patients with COVID-19. Many of them are working 12-hour shifts at local hospitals, but with restaurants and Starbucks in the city closed, it can be hard for them to find easy access to coffee and tea.

Last week, Starbucks learned that the doctors and nurses at The New Yorker hotel were in serious need of some coffee. The iconic, art deco hotel in midtown Manhattan that a month ago was full of business travelers and tourists is now home to 400 doctors and nurses. Starbucks partners quickly rallied to answer the call for coffee. Saturday and Sunday mornings, a handful of partners got up at 5 a.m. to make and deliver 35 coffee travelers and pastries to the doctors and nurses at The New Yorker Hotel.

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“It was an energy you can’t describe,” said Karisma Branch, an assistant store manager of a nearby Starbucks. “To see them in their scrubs and telling me that they’re from North Carolina and Virginia and they flew up here to help … I couldn’t say thank you enough.” 

Store manager Duanys Sano said he was startled at the reception he and the other Starbucks partners received when they arrived with the donation.

“When we walked into the hotel … we had nurses and doctors clapping and applauding us,” Duanys said. “The main purpose was for us to go out there to thank them. But we found ourselves being thanked and honored by the doctors and nurses. That left me speechless.”

Kate McShane, a 20-year partner and regional director, said Starbucks and the staff at The New Yorker Hotel are working hard to make sure the medical workers there have access to coffee. In addition to the donation Saturday and Sunday, Starbucks has sent Keurig machines to the hotel, and has arranged to donate about 7,000 Starbucks K-Cup® pods per week for the doctors and nurses there. In addition, the company will be donating hundreds of cases with bottles of &nbsp;Frappuccino® chilled coffee drink and cans of Starbucks Tripleshot™ Energy.

Kate said all the Starbucks stores in Manhattan have been closed for more than a week, but Tuesday, the first café reopened across the street from NYU Langone Health in order to serve our front-line responders. The team is working to figure out what other Starbucks locations might reopen, particularly locations near healthcare facilities.

“Staffing isn’t going to be a problem – the partners in this market are tenacious, and even today, we probably have more partners who want to work than we would need to work,” Kate said, adding that the biggest consideration is the safety of partners and customers.

She said coffee represents more than a beverage right now.

“It’s what we’re seeing with most first responders. Obviously, there’s the necessity of staying caffeinated, because the hours they’re working are grueling, but I think there’s more to it than that,” Kate said. “They’re away from their families. Some of them are staying at hotels in the city to support hospitals they’re not even residents at. I think they’re looking for a sense of connection. When our partners connect with doctors and nurses over coffee, even briefly, even from a social distance, it feels like a little piece of home – a sense of normalcy in their every day that they’ve missed.”

Starbucks delivers coffee to doctors and nurses in New York City - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks delivers coffee to doctors and nurses in New York City

When doctors and nurses in hard-hit New York City called for coffee, Starbucks partners delivered.

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Burleson, Texas – When the voice on the Starbucks drive-thru intercom asked how their day was going, Brian Roberts decided to answer honestly: after a two-year process, he and his wife Hattie were on their way to adopt their third child.

When they pulled around, store manager Bryttani Moss and two baristas had written messages on their cups and prepared a gift – a bag of coffee.

“They wrote amazing notes on our cups as well as congratulating us and wishing us so much luck and happiness,” Brian wrote on Facebook. “Our world is so stressful right now, and this group of amazing people who were crazy busy took time to show love and kindness!”

Bryttani said she’s so happy her store family could be a part of the Roberts family’s story.

“I’m so thankful we can provide normalcy to people in such an uncertain time,” she said.

P.S. She is home now, and the Roberts family is now five. Brian said his daughters Juliette, 5, and Scarlett, 3, are pretty taken by their new baby sister, Coraline.

Starbucks drive-thru small talk leads to impromptu adoption party - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks drive-thru small talk leads to impromptu adoption party

When the voice on the Starbucks drive-thru intercom asked how their day was going, Brian Roberts decided to answer honestly: after a two-year process, he and his wife Hattie were on their way to adopt their third child.

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