Published 12-13-02
Submitted by Starbucks Corporation
Established in 1997, America SCORES encourages urban youth to join a team with their classmates and participate in soccer and creative writing activities after school. Students participate in writing and soccer activities on alternate afternoons, experiencing—usually for the first time—the opportunity to write poetry, stories, and drama and to play a great team sport: soccer. The philosophy is that by giving children in economically disadvantaged urban communities an engaging team to which they can belong, they will develop an allegiance to each other, their teachers, their schools, and to their education. Through its current eight affiliate programs across the country, America SCORES works with more than 2, 400 students who are both poets and athletes.
“Starbucks support and its partners’ (employees) commitment to volunteerism has been truly amazing,” said Paul Caccamo, America SCORES President. “Starbucks has provided us with so much more than a financial contribution; they are involved and want to make a difference in these kids’ lives. Their increased financial commitment will help to develop our programs on a national level.”
America SCORES was founded by a public school teacher who was also a part-time Starbucks barista in Washington D.C. The organization received its first Starbucks Foundation grant in 1997 and has since received more than $170,800 in grants from The Starbucks Foundation to support its affiliate sites across the country. In the past five years America SCORES has expanded to Boston, Denver, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
“America SCORES is a program that our Starbucks partners are excited about. They see first hand how kids involved in this program grow as team members, dedicated to their success both on the soccer field and in the classroom,” said Cathie Bachy, Starbucks Foundation program manager. “Starbucks partners have been involved in a wide range of activities from assisting SCORES students at “Poetry Slams” and other literary competitions as well as coaching on the soccer field. Working together has allowed us to make a positive contribution to both teachers and youth in urban areas.”
AMERICA SCORES serves children in the public schools in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC. The program is supported by the U.S. Soccer Foundation, adidas America, Newmark & Company and Starbucks. AMERICA SCORES plans to expand to six additional cities in the next three years. For more information, please visit www.americascores.org.
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