Starbucks has done it again and in a real way. I have always liked the STARBUCKS brand and have been pretty aware of their business model when it comes to giving back. STARBUCKS is a household name and has been for about the past 5 years; whether you are young or old or anything in between, STARBUCKS has something you need.

The brand revealed yesterday they were taking it up a notch with the business model on giving back. Starbucks announced FoodShare – a program to donate ready-to-eat meals to food banks from its 7,600 company-operated stores in the U.S. Initially, this will be accomplished through an existing collaboration with FOOD DONATATION CONNECTION and a new partnership with FEEDING AMERICA.

Since 2010, Starbucks stores have donated pastries through the support of Food Donation Connection (FDC), a service provider that collects pastries at the company’s stores after they can no longer be sold to customers. Starbucks worked with FDC to develop a safe process to add perishable food to the pick-up, which will be implemented in participating company-operated stores in the U.S. by this time next year.

Jane Maly, brand manager for the Starbucks Food team says “The challenge was finding a way to preserve the food’s quality during delivery. We focused on maintaining the temperature, texture and flavor of the surplus food, so when it reached a person in need, they could safely enjoy it.”

Starbucks recently established a partnership with Feeding America – the largest domestic hunger-relief and food-rescue nonprofit in the U.S. – to redistribute unsold food. Through this process, a refrigerated van will pick up food from Starbucks stores each day and deliver it to the Feeding America network.

I found it quite funny during my research that this had been a very tough issue that the coperation had endured. I have been a homeless advocate since I was 15. Being raised in a home where homelessness was taken very seriously by my mother, caused me to develop a sensitivity for the homeless and nurtured a different out look on life in general. I had learned this was a big issue by the age of 18 which I did not understand until I furthered my research and learned their had been many cases of people dying and becoming ill from old food.

I remember being at breakfast with Cristen and some friends and the portions were sooooooo HUMUNGOUS. There was no way all the food could be eaten in one sitting. The conversation came up of how might we be less wasteful and more grateful by providing the homeless community access to leftovers in a safe and appealing way.

At that point I began sharing the information I had came across on my journey and it prompted new ideas coming up of course! Cristen and I always find ourselves around forward thinkers and people who get what it is to be an asset to humanity. In that moment exactly what STARBUCKS came up with were some of the ideas that came up at that breakfast table, and that is what is most dynamic.

What is also amazing to me is that now the way has been paved for other companies to be able to make the same contribution. And although it will be challenging to get it done, we know it is possible and that is what LITERALLY MAKES MY HEART SMILE.

With the homeless rate increasing as rapidly as it is, gestures like this have to be made so we do not watch our civilization collapse right before our eyes. I am happy to know this business model has been created. It lets me know that here at HEART OF COOL (HoC), we will always have the ability to impact the world we all share.

To all of you that love the STARBUCKS brand you can buy you coffee or tea or whatever it is you love just that more confidently; knowing every dollar spent did not just help you, but helped someone who could not help themselves.

THIS IS WHAT IT IS TRULY ABOUT!

Signing Off
-Tasha Bouè