The Starbucks Foundation and Points of Light Expand Innovative Service Model in 20 Cities Across the United States
The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program is designed to provide needed day-to-day support to local nonprofit organizations, while providing an opportunity for Starbucks partners to pursue their personal passion to get involved in their communities.
Today, The Starbucks Foundation and Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, announce the expansion of The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows Program, an innovative service model inspired by national service.
The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program is designed to provide needed day-to-day support to local nonprofit organizations, while providing an opportunity for Starbucks partners to pursue their personal passion to get involved in their communities.
In this innovative service model, The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program takes corporate volunteer programs beyond one-time volunteer events or donation matching by enabling Points of Light to provide local organizations with a Service Fellow working part-time to support a nonprofit, getting paid by the nonprofit while also working part-time at Starbucks.
Following a successful six-month pilot last year, this full-scale program will launch in 20 cities for 100 Starbucks partners selected as Fellows. The fellows will be split into two seven-month terms, with the first group of 50 Fellows beginning in September 2019 and ending in March 2020, and the second group starting in April 2020.
“The ultimate goal, from the Starbucks lens, is that these partners are truly catalytic in their communities and that they inspire more partners to get engaged,” says Virginia Tenpenny, executive director of The Starbucks Foundation. “This is a whole new way of tapping into the goodwill of employees who want to do something more, and we think it will inform their commitments around service for a lifetime. It also creates incredible opportunities and growth for our partners, creates capacity for nonprofits that otherwise wouldn’t have dollars for labor and strengthens their communities at the same time.”
The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program is made possible by a $3.5 million grant from The Starbucks Foundation to Points of Light, including direct support to Points of Light to help fund their affiliates expansion of resources, programs and efforts. Points of Light orchestrates the entire program, including paying for the Service Fellow’s time. To learn more about The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program pilot and the impact Fellows had on 13 cities across the nation, visit the Points of Light blog and Starbucks Stories.
To read Points of Light’s press release, visit their newsroom.
About The Starbucks Foundation
Established in 1997, The Starbucks Foundation strengthens communities around the world by advancing opportunities for youth, veterans, refugees and coffee, tea and cocoa farmers and their families, supporting communities affected by disaster, and promoting civic engagement. The Starbucks Foundation is a U.S. 501 (c)(3) charitable organization under U.S. law, and receives funding primarily from Starbucks Corporation and private donations. Learn more at https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/starbucks-foundation.
