Starbucks Supports Guatemala Volcano Relief Efforts and Invites Customers to Donate via Mobile App

Beginning today, Starbucks customers across the U.S. can use the Starbucks mobile app to donate to urgent relief and recovery efforts in Guatemala following the devastating eruption of the Fuego Volcano which claimed more than 110 lives, with an estimated 200 people still missing. The Starbucks Foundation will also donate $100,000, with all funds going to CARE to provide food, water, sanitation kits, clothing and blankets. Customers can also donate online at www.care.org/starbucksCAREs.

“The massive Fuego volcanic eruption earlier this month has forced thousands of Guatemalan families from their homes, and some communities have been entirely buried by lava and ash,” said Michelle Nunn, CARE president and CEO. “CARE has worked in Guatemala since 1959, and we’re active in the volcano’s impact zone now, assessing needs and supporting families whose lives have been suddenly upended. It’s thanks to partners like The Starbucks Foundation that we can deliver that support as we help affected families reclaim some stability in a desperately chaotic situation. We’re grateful to The Starbucks Foundation for their generosity.”

Starbucks partners (employees) in the U.S. who make a personal contribution to the relief efforts through CARE or another eligible organization can also request matching funds through the company’s Partner Match program.

In addition, Premium Restaurants of America (PRA), which operates Starbucks licensed stores in Central America, is collecting items for donation across all eight Starbucks® stores in Guatemala City. Starbucks partners in the market are continuing to volunteer by providing free coffee to first responders.

For more than 40 years, Starbucks has bought arabica coffee from producers across Guatemala that are part of the company’s rigorous ethical sourcing program known as Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices. The company also operates a Farmer Support Center (FSC) in the country, one of nine worldwide. At the FSC, farmers get free access to the latest findings of Starbucks top agronomists, including new varietals of disease-resistant trees and advanced soil management techniques, to help farmers continue to improve the quality of their crops.

In the days following Fuego’s eruption, Starbucks learned that several smallholder coffee farmers, especially in the Antigua region, had suffered mass devastation and tragic loss, with many looking at a long road to recovery and rebuilding. In response, the company announced today a commitment to donate healthy, high-quality coffee trees to the region, including donating coffee trees to farmers whether Starbucks buys their coffee or not.

“We have a deep relationship going back more than four decades with Guatemala’s coffee producing communities,” said Andrew Linnemann, Starbucks vice president for Global Coffee. “We are absolutely devastated by the impact this humanitarian crisis has had on many producers and their families. At Starbucks, we see it as our role and responsibility to do what we can and working to bring our customers and partners together to help both the short- and long-term relief and recovery efforts. By directing coffee trees to those impacted the most, we have an opportunity to begin the rebuilding process and support many of these communities at scale.”

To support tree donations to communities impacted by Fuego, Starbucks will tap into an existing program that provides coffee trees to farmers impacted by coffee leaf rust, a disease that has ravaged coffee crops in Central America in recent years. The program leverages the company’s supply chain to collaborate with organizations like Conservation International to create lasting impact. More than 30 million trees have already been donated to coffee farmers across Central America (including 11 million to Guatemala), since the program began in 2015, with a goal of providing 100 million healthy, rust-resistant trees to farmers across the region by 2025. The effort helps ensure the long-term supply of coffee and the economic future of coffee farmers by replacing trees declining in productivity due to age and disease, such as coffee leaf rust, and help make coffee become the world’s first sustainable agricultural products.

The Starbucks Foundation also has a long history of working to strengthen coffee communities in Guatemala. For the past three years, The Starbucks Foundation has partnered with World Neighbors, working with 4,000 rural families in the nearby Atitlan and Chorti regions of Guatemala. Last year on National Coffee Day, it made a $500,000 grant to World Neighbors to help improve access to water, promote women’s leadership through savings groups, and increase food security for 3,000 families in 30 Huehuetenango coffee growing communities.   

To donate to CARE, visit the Starbucks mobile app or www.care.org/starbucksCAREs.  

Established in 1997, The Starbucks Foundation has strengthened communities around the world by advancing opportunities for youth, veterans, refugees and coffee, tea and cocoa farmers and their families, supporting communities affected by disaster, and promoting civic engagement. The Starbucks Foundation is a U.S. 501 (c)(3) charitable organization under U.S. law, and receives funding primarily from Starbucks Corporation and private donations. Learn more at https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/starbucks-foundation

Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than seven decades of experience helping people prepare for disasters, providing lifesaving assistance when a crisis hits, and helping communities recover after the emergency has passed. CARE places special focus on women and children, who are often disproportionately affected by disasters. Last year CARE worked in 93 countries to reach 63 million people, including more than 14 million through emergency response and humanitarian aid. Learn more at care.org.

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