We want to express our heartfelt concern for the tens of millions of people who have been personally affected by the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy. All of us at Starbucks are grateful to the many thousands of first responders who courageously, and selflessly, responded to this disaster. 

 

As part of our commitment to help these communities, the Starbucks Foundation will be contributing $500,000 to the disaster relief efforts. Immediately, $250,000 will go to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to assist those in need and another $250,000 will be contributed to the United Way Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund for longer term assistance to the impacted neighborhoods.

 

We understand that Starbucks is a gathering place for the community, and while we continue to work diligently to resume our own impacted operations, we will stay in close contact with the Red Cross and United Way to monitor the situation and determine additional support as needs arise. In addition, we are working closely with local governments and non-government organizations (NGOs) to identify volunteer activities for our partners and customers in the days ahead.