Starbucks Coffee Co., Seattle, announced the launch of its Indivisible collection, which includes an Indivisible Blend coffee and two new products to support the Create Jobs for USA program. With each purchase from the Indivisible collection, Starbucks will make a donation to Opportunity Finance Network for the Create Jobs for USA fund to help create and retain jobs across the country.
Available through July 9, the Indivisible Blend coffee is a Starbucks Blonde Roast coffee made from a blend of washed Kenyan and Ethiopian coffees. The coffee is blended, roasted and packaged in the United States. Each 1-pound bag of whole bean coffee features the name of the city in which the coffee was roasted. A $5 donation will be made from each bag purchased, which retails for $14.95. In addition, the blend will be available as a brewed option in Starbucks stores. For each brewed coffee purchased, Starbucks will make a $0.05 donation to the Create Jobs for USA fund. The collection also includes a ceramic mug and acrylic art tumbler.
In addition, Citi Community Development and Citi Foundation are making a $1 million donation to the Create Jobs for USA program. Citi also is adding the Create Jobs for USA fund as a featured charitable fund on the Citi ThankYou Rewards website, encouraging members of Citi’s loyalty program to redeem their ThankYou points to make a donation to the initiative.
The support from Citi builds on donations to date from the Starbucks Foundation, like-minded companies, customers and concerned citizens bringing the total raised to more than $11.5 million. Because community lenders are able to leverage this capital to secure additional financing — on average, at seven times the donation amount — this money will help create more than $80 million in loans to community businesses focused on creating and sustaining jobs in underserved neighborhoods, the company said. Based on conservative forecasting models developed by the Create Jobs for USA program manager, Opportunity Finance Network, with input from independent economists, this lending is expected to help create and sustain nearly 4,000 jobs at a time when national unemployment has remained above 8 percent for the last three years, the company said.
“In these troubling economic times, we believe that we can all do our part to help make a positive impact on the jobs crisis facing our country,” said Starbucks Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz in a statement. “The Create Jobs for USA program is helping thousands of Americans get back to work, and we thank Citi and the other like-minded companies who have refused to be bystanders and instead opted to use their success and scale for good. The Create Jobs for USA fund is enabling Americans to unite in helping Americans get back to work, and the Indivisible collection provides several new ways for our customers to show their support.”