- Starbucks announces Buy One, Give One Power Lunch offer during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
Seattle, 2016-Nov-16 — /EPR Retail News/ — Hunger exists in every county in the U.S., affecting 42 million Americans including 13 million children according to a 2016 report by the United States Department of Agriculture.
During National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Starbucks is inviting customers to purchase a Power Lunch and in return, the company will donate a Power Lunch to the Feeding America® network of local food banks.* This Buy One, Give One Power Lunch offer will be available from November 15-21 in participating Starbucks® stores across the U.S.
“Every day all around us there are people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said John Kelly, senior vice president, Global Social Impact.“This offer to provide a nourishing meal to someone in need is part of a multi-year national effort by Starbucks and Feeding America to close the hunger gap. It’s part of our role and responsibility to our communities.”
“People are more likely to give during this time of year and Starbucks support is particularly important because it amplifies and reinforces our message about hunger in our community,” said Nicole Suydam, CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, a Feeding America member food bank.
Building on an Existing Relationship
In March 2016, Starbucks announced a collaboration with Feeding America to launch Starbucks® FoodShare, a program where partners (employees) can donate ready-to-eat meals to food banks from its 7,800 company-operated stores in the U.S. Since launching a successful pilot of the program in San Diego last summer, Starbucks has added new markets including Orange County, Las Vegas, Denver and Colorado Springs. The company is scheduled to complete its rollout of Starbucks® FoodShare by 2019 and build upon the more than 345,000 nourishing meals that have been delivered to people in need to date.
“Our partners understood how important it was for us to donate surplus food back to the local community and they were the catalyst behind the FoodShare program,” said Kelly. “We were so inspired by Feeding America and all of its network partners that spend each day trying to get food to the people who need it the most. Now we can help address hunger together.”
“Launching this partnership with Starbucks has been a watershed moment for our food rescue efforts,” said Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America. “We are committed to identifying innovative solutions for sourcing food. Programs like FoodShare are a step in the right direction. Thanks to Starbucks contributions, more families and children will have access to a variety of nutrient-rich food.”
The Power of Lunch
Based on its relationship with Feeding America, Starbucks determined that it could do even more to get food to those in need by introducing the Power Lunch Buy One, Give One offer and encouraging customers to participate.
“We have a quality lunch menu that we’re pleased to provide to our customers and with this offer, we can donate nourishing meals to families in need as well,” said Ka Bao Lee, product manager Starbucks Lunch. “With Thanksgiving upon us, we think this is a particularly impactful time for such an effort.”
Although the offer lasts for one week, the lunches will be donated over a 90-day period. This will allow for a continuous flow of nourishing Starbucks meals that will meet the needs of local food banks for several weeks. Starbucks anticipates donating at least 50,000 Power Lunches with the help of its customers.
“The additional food from the Power Lunches will help our agencies feed children, families and seniors at a time when there are many demands on financial resources and when people are often unable to find enough food for their next meal,” Suydam said.
*Donations will be distributed in California, New York, Arizona and Colorado. Learn more at www.feedingamerica.org.
Media contact:
Global
Phone: 206 318 7100
Email: press@starbucks.com
Source: Starbucks
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