(Starbucks)RED

November 26, 2008

(Starbucks)RED

So at the end of October, I got to go to New Orleans with managers of Starbucks in retail locations across North America. When I got there, Whitney asked how many were there. I’ve never been good at numbers so I asked a peer next to me who reminded me of this year’s theme that was printed on the T-shirt I was wearing: “The Power of 10,000.” …There were about 10,000 people there. The theme revolved around not only going to New Orleans and pouring money into their economy by using their restaurants, hotels, and even hiring street performers and high school bands to perform at different times; but each person during one day of the event volunteered somewhere in the city. We painted homes, did light construction, planted trees, and all sorts of projects all over the city. I worked in a park that had to lay off most of its staff and had not been maintained very well. My favorite project I heard about was painting sheets of plywood that were combined to create huge murals on trailer buildings that were being used as temporary elemenatary schools. The mural can later be used on the actual facilities.

During the conference, we also got to experience some amazing things and hear about future initiatives that Starbucks is doing. The one that has made the most news is Starbucks partnership with (Product) RED and creation of Starbucks Shared Planet, which include several initiatives. Our goal has always been to buy coffee responsibly, but Starbucks is doubling its Fair Trade purchases to 40 million pounds of coffee in 2009 making Starbucks the largest purchaser of Fair Trade coffee in the world. Also, Starbucks is committing to 1 million volunteer hours in the communities where Starbucks has stores. So I am being challenged in how to get my employees better connected in the city of North Little Rock. This is something I want to do anyway, and I’m thrilled that my company not only supports me, but will require this of me as a leader in my store.

So I know if you take all the good things a company does and read it off of the company’s website it can make any company look okay, so the most exciting part of the conference was when they announced our involvement with (Product) RED, they also introduced Bono to talk more about this. My assumption is that Bono cannot really be hired on as a public speaker for any price, but his obligations are going to more about that amount of impact they will have. I think if the most popular philinthropist of today agrees with the direction of the company I work for, it solidifies a lot for me, too.

So I’m pumped. So you should go get a drink from the Holiday Trio at your local Starbucks, especially if you live in North Little Rock. AND on December 1, World Aids Day, any drink you purchase at a Starbucks store will contribute $.05 to (Product)RED! Plus we have a few cool (Product)RED aprons!

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