How to Support Hunger Relief this Holiday Season

The holiday season is a time of family gatherings and celebrations where food is often at the center. For many though, it is a time of hardship with 47 million people in the U.S. experiencing food insecurity according to the USDA. During this time of year, the critical role of local food banks and pantries is delivering holiday cheer to those most in need. 'With too many people facing food insecurity in the U.S., Starbucks is committed to taking action and being part of the solution,' said Kelly Goodejohn, chief social impact officer at Starbucks. 'Throughout the year, we're proud to join our partners (employees) to fight hunger relief in local communities. And this holiday season, our customers can join us by purchasing a protein box or participating in a virtual food drive. Together, through our community coffeehouses, we can help strengthen local food banks and ensure that everyone has access to nourishing food.' As part of Starbucks FoodShare model, Starbucks has worked alongside local nonprofits to ensure donated food safely reaches communities most in need since 2016. This holiday season, as an extension of this long record on hunger relief action, for every Protein Box sold now through January 2 at participating Starbucks stores within the U.S., Starbucks will give a meal* to Feeding America. Starbucks customers can also support their local food banks by contributing to a virtual food drive from now through December 31 at participating Starbucks stores, all from their mobile device. In addition to providing 63 million meals to-date, the Starbucks FoodShare Program provides FoodShare Capacity Building Grants to regional food banks and local food pantries to support food distribution efforts. This year, Starbucks is contributing $4M in grants to nearly 300 food rescue organizations across the nation to help solve the most pressing needs in their operations. 'Funding helped support and build the capacity of food distribution efforts for nine of our community partners. We improved cold storage capacity by replacing broken refrigerators, allowing our community partners to efficiently and safely store Starbucks donations,' said Loree D. Jones Brown, chief executive officer of Philabundance, a Starbucks FoodShare grant recipient. 'Additionally, support from this grant increased the efficiency of outdoor and indoor food distribution by allowing our community partners to purchase necessary supplies.' With more than 16,000 stores across the U.S., Starbucks is taking action and helping the communities it serves. This includes using its scale to reduce food waste, donate nutritious food and invest in food rescue infrastructure. By inviting customers and green-apron partners to participate, Starbucks is making it easier to be a good neighbor and spread holiday cheer at a time many need it most. *At participating Starbucks stores within the U.S. from 11/19/24 to 1/2/25, for each protein box sold, Starbucks will donate the monetary equivalent of one meal to Feeding America(R). $1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local partner food banks.