The Starbucks China Education ProjectIn 2005 the Starbucks Foundation pledged $5 million to establish the Starbucks China Education Project at Give2Asia, an organization that facilitates and encourages charitable giving to meet needs in Asia. Since Starbucks entered the China market in 1999, partners have supported ongoing community initiatives including volunteer opportunities with local schools as well as fund-raising activities to support AIDS-afflicted orphans, local educational charities and tsunami victims. The China Education Project demonstrates the Starbucks commitment to China and recognizes China’s long and rich tradition of emphasizing the importance of education. CEP is at the core of Starbucks strategic corporate social responsibility platform to strengthen our philanthropic and social commitment to China. “At Starbucks, our commitment to social responsibility is an integral part of our culture and business practices,” said Howard Schultz, chairman, president and ceo, Starbucks Coffee Company. “In China, we believe our philanthropic commitments will be significant, substantive and long-term,” while “contributing positively to China’s educational programs. Operating with a social conscience has always been a core purpose and competency at Starbucks. It is part of our heritage and values. At our stores, our partners strive to be good neighbors and contributors in the communities where they live, work and play.” Major partnerships of the Starbucks China Education Project include: Rural Teacher Training Program In 2006 a partnership was established with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) to train teachers in rural areas. Many of these teachers have  little or no formal training, yet they teach students of vastly different grade and aptitude levels. The program will receive a total of $1 million, and is expected to directly help roughly 3,000 teachers in 1,000 primary and middle schools.In July 2006, CSCLF trained nearly 500 teachers from the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Ningxia and Shanxi. The focus was helping teachers work with new curriculum, improve teaching methods and skills, and learn to use local resources in small-scale research projects with students. CSCLF conducted two training sessions in 2007, including sessions that focused on training principals. The most recent took place in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province. It again brought together more than 500 primary school teachers from Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Ningxia and Shanxi, and focused on the reform and development of basic education, theory of new curriculum, active teaching and building capacity of teachers. CSCLF will continue to integrate what it has learned to improve future training sessions. To date, the Rural Teacher Training Program has had a direct impact on approximately 1,250 teachers and principals. The Student Assistance Scholarship Also working with CSCLF, scholarships are expected to reach 1,000 teaching college students with a total grant of $500,000. It will offer financial assistance to poor students pursuing teaching careers. In 2007 the scholarships supported 300 teaching students in 15 universities. Each received an award toward tuition, fees and education expenses. Recipients were chosen based on financial need and academic performance. 
NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN 2007Water Education The Starbucks Foundation pledged $600,000 over two years to the All China Women’s Development Foundation. This project trains women in 14 regions of five provinces, focusing on water safety, sanitation, conservation and public education. It also funds baseline research on local health, sanitation, purification and water-use habits. Tutoring The Foundation gave $16,000 to the Xi’an Women and Children’s Activity Center to tutor children of land-lost peasants, migrant workers and poor city residents. |
© 2008 Starbucks Corporation. All rights reserved.