This March, Starbucks is turning 40, and to celebrate the occasion, the coffee giant is launching the new Starbucks Tribute blend, rolling out the borderless logo today, March 8, and announcing a bunch of activities to make the neighborhoods thrive. For the ‘volunteering’ part of the of anniversary celebrations, the brand is calling its community-minded consumers to spend a couple of hours improving their towns and cities throughout the month of April, a Global Month of Service at Starbucks.
Next month, the company will be partnering with a range of nonprofit organizations to launch over 2,000 service projects around the globe. The ultimate goal is to provide support to the communities in various parts of the world with 200,000 hours of service in activities, which will involve Starbucks partners, employees and customers in April. The company’s ongoing commitment is improving communities since the early years of its operating in the coffee sector, and now it is an integral part of Starbucks’ rich heritage—these accomplishments will help the company achieve the ultimate goal of performing one million hours of community service per year by 2015.
“We live our mission and values by providing exceptional customer service inside our stores and by inviting customers to join us in community service outside our stores,” said Vivek Varma, executive vice president of Public Affairs. “Our Global Month of Service is a meaningful opportunity for Starbucks partners and customers to join together as change makers to address real needs in the communities where they live and work. We believe we can use our scale to be a catalyst for positive change.”
Visitors to the dedicated section on the company’s website are invited to register for the upcoming projects in London, Los Angeles, Toronto, Shanghai, Seattle and London with the dates and short description of what will be on and which organizations are joining the movement in these cities. The community projects will be focusing on the themes including neighborhood renovations, gardening and painting, educating local residents on leading environmentally friendly lifestyles, cleaning up public spaces, to name a few.
Starbucks is also treating its consumers with free drinks in the U.S. and Canada—each customer, who visits the brand’s venues on March 10, 11 and 12 from 2-5 p.m. local time, and buy their beverages, will also receive a complimentary Starbucks Petites, one of eight delicious small sweets.