News

Starbucks foundation awards $2 million

March 13, 2008

SEATTLE – Starbucks Coffee Co. has announced the Starbucks Foundation is making two new grant commitments to help support water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in water-stressed African communities.

Over a three-year period, CARE and Project Concern International will each receive $1 million from the foundation's Ethos Water Fund. Collectively, the organizations' efforts are expected to benefit an estimated 54,000 people who currently lack access to clean water and sanitation services. In addition to providing access to clean water, CARE will introduce transformative sanitation and hygiene practices in Rwanda's Musanze District while Project Concern International will work to implement participatory methods and low-cost, easy-to-maintain technologies in Tanzania's Babati District. Grants from the Ethos Water Fund are made possible through Ethos water purchases. For each bottle of Ethos water sold, 5 cents (and 10 cents at Starbucks company-operated stores in Canada) is directed to the Ethos Water Fund. To date, the fund has generated more than $6.2 million in grant commitments to help support water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in Africa and Asia.

Ethos Water also recently launched a national print advertising campaign in collaboration with H20 Africa, a foundation focused on clean water initiatives. H20 Africa's co-founder, Matt Damon, appears in an ad encouraging consumers to get involved in raising awareness and funding for the world water crisis. The campaign coincides with the expanded distribution of Ethos water into more than 40,000 convenience, grocery, mass and drug stores across the U.S. through the Pepsi-Cola bottling system. Since Starbucks acquired Ethos Water in 2005, the product has become available in more than 7,000 company-operated stores in the U.S. and Canada.