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The Starbucks Foundation Grants $100,000 Through Language of Hope Program

The Starbucks Foundation Grants $100,000 Through Language of Hope Program

Published 04-19-00

Submitted by Starbucks Corporation

The Starbucks Foundation announced today that $100,000 in grant funding has been awarded to four non-profit youth organizations through the Foundation’s Language of Hope program. The recipients of $25,000 grants include The Alliance for Youth Artists and Writers in New York City, Writers in the Schools in Houston, PEN Center’s USA West in Los Angeles and Seattle Art and Lectures.

Language of Hope, a program developed in 1999 under the Starbucks Foundation, supports community-based programs that engage “at-risk” or underserved youth in creative writing workshops. Through the grants, participants will have the opportunity to demonstrate their achievements in Starbucks coffeehouses and the community through public readings and published works.

“Starbucks introduced Language of Hope to help youth discover their voices through writing,” said Dave Olsen, Starbucks senior vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility. “Words build bridges to a brighter future and create an enhanced sense of identity, power and vision.”

The non-profit organizations will utilize the grants as follows:

The Alliance for Youth Artists and Writers, New York City:
Publish an anthology of student writing and directory of writing programs for area youth entitled Language of Hope: Pathways to Success for Young Writers in New York City.

Writers in the Schools, Houston:
Sponsor five writers in public schools to inspire and stimulate “at-risk” youth.

PEN Center’s USA West, Los Angeles:
Expand an existing writers in residence program, support a writing contest and assist in the publication of an anthology of student writings.

Seattle Arts and Lectures, Seattle:
Lead a collaborative effort among the city’s creative writing programs for “at-risk” youth and coordinate public events to celebrate achievements.

The Starbucks Foundation, formed in 1997, is a non-profit foundation created by Starbucks to support charitable causes in its communities. Under a basic literacy grant program, through which Starbucks partners (employees) submit grant applications on behalf of charitable organizations, The Starbucks Foundation has awarded more than 200 grants totaling more than $900,000 to literacy, school and community-based organizations across North America. Language of Hope focuses specifically on writing programs for “at risk” youth.

Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. In addition to its retail locations in North America, the United Kingdom, the Pacific Rim, and the Middle East, Starbucks sells whole bean coffees through its specialty sales group, direct response business, supermarkets and online at Starbucks.com. Additionally, Starbucks produces and sells bottled Frappuccino® coffee drink and a line of superpremium ice creams through its joint venture partnerships and offers a line of innovative premium teas produced by its wholly owned subsidiary, Tazo Tea Company.

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It's the way we do business Contributing positively to our communities and environment is so important to Starbucks that it's a guiding principle of our mission statement. We jointly fulfill this commitment with partners (employees), at all levels of the company, by getting involved together to help build stronger communities and conserve natural resources.

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