Starbucks foundation launches Future Star Community program

The Beijing Starbucks Foundation recently unveiled its Future Star Community Project to invest 18 million yuan ($2.5 million) in China over the next three years, contributing to the development of long-term community level charity organizations and talents.

Julia Zhu, secretary general of Beijing Starbucks Foundation, said on Thursday in Beijing that the project is expected to focus on supporting to build female friendly, disabled friendly, animal friendly and elderly friendly communities. 

The future star community project is an invitation to community-level organizations and talents who have set their eyes on community development. The project aims to collaborate with professional charity organizations to build a package of standard solutions and procedures which can tackle community-level issues, and empower grass-root institutions and people to do good things for their community.

In the past three years since its inception, the foundation has donated a total of 21 million yuan, with a capacity to support more than 130,000 beneficiaries, said Zhu. The foundation has actively promoted efforts to activate village vitality and build more integrated and resilient communities, she added.

Meanwhile, among its key projects, the second phase of "rural mother acceleration project" has, in the past three years, empowered 1,250 village women to make a living through their embroidery skills and further carry on the legacy of intangible cultural heritages, and the "inclusion enabler project" has also offered support to 1,500 mentally challenged youth in employment. The foundation has also initiated other projects to help vulnerable groups get through difficulties caused by natural disasters.