KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Bernama) -- Starbucks is committed to community service projects throughout the year to help make our communities stronger. There is an emphasis in the month of April to highlight participation amongst partners (employees), customers and nonprofit groups coming together to involve in locally relevant community service projects that create a positive impact on the neighborhoods where we live and work. This April marks the 7^th year of once again using our scale to bring together all stakeholders - partners, customers, nonprofits, civic leaders and our business partners to create lasting and meaningful change in the communities we serve by holding local service events. 
 
The theme this year is ‘Make A Difference, Donate A Book’, a focus to establish 6 community libraries to enrich the minds of children, youths and families through cultivating the love for reading. This project will benefit 12 communities in total. Out of the 6 libraries, the first three community libraries will be set up in Pahang, Selangor and Sarawak respectively in April while another three will be set up in Sabah, Ipoh and Johor during the month of May.  One of the first book-handovers will be held at Kampung Parit Serong (Kuala Selangor, Selangor) on 15^th April whereby the community will receive over 1,500 books which are family-friendly titles spanning genres from hobby & interest, nature, fitness & health, revision books etc. 
 
The community at Kg Parit Serong and the community library

Kampung Parit Serong located within the Tanjung Karang district is a community of 300 families with 500 children. The village is only 35 minutes away from the famous Kuala Selangor Fireflies Sanctuary and approximately 90km away from Kuala Lumpur city centre. The facilities found within the village are a mosque, a primary school, a kindergarten, outdoor futsal court, badminton court and a balai JKKK. The main source of income for this village is their agricultural produce like banana, oil palm and paddy. 
 
Starbucks is also sourcing raw bananas from this village to be used to develop banana based food products that retail at Starbucks stores nationwide.  “To know that Starbucks is engaged with the local community that we’re in is truly special. Now our children will have a comfortable safe reading space equipped with good reading materials. We hope this will encourage an interest to read and make reading fun,” said En Azahari, Tok Sidang of Kampung Parit Serong. 
 
Starbucks encourages customers to contribute by donating books

The effort invites Starbucks customers to contribute by dropping off their reading materials into book collection baskets placed in 93 Starbucks stores across Malaysia. There are insertion notes readily available at the collection baskets for customers to leave positive messages when they drop off the books. These messages are a means for customers to send encouraging words to the beneficiary communities to read and benefit from these reading materials.  Books collected from this program will be handed over to the beneficiary communities from 15^th to 30^th April 2017. Details can be found on Starbucks Malaysia’s Facebook page. 
 
Today, joining the Kampung Parit Serong book-handover ceremony are 10 customers who themselves have donated books to this community. The beneficiaries are listed below;  

1. Selangor - Community in Kg Parit Serong, Tg Karang
2. Pahang - Community in FELDA Chini Timur 1, Pekan 
3. Sarawak – Communities from Kg Semaba, Kg Bumbok, Kg Tematu, Kg Sudat, Kg Sandong, Kg Pengkalan Baru,
Taman Chung Nam – location set up is at Pusat Rukun Tetangga Tetangga 4S
4. 3 more libraries will be set up in May -  TBC
 
“We have always believed that partners join Starbucks because they believe that our brand and our company stand for something bigger. Global Month of Service is a big part of what standing for something bigger actually means. Every Starbucks store is a part of a community, and we’re committed to strengthening neighborhoods wherever we do business. Our stores allow partners and customers to connect, provide a helping hand and create meaningful opportunities that can strengthen individuals and communities. Now with more than 3,500 partners (employees) and 238 stores nationwide, the opportunity to do more together for our communities has never been greater.” said En. Salleharon, Senior Manager, Public Affairs & Digital Strategy, Starbucks Malaysia and Brunei.
 
Starbucks is committed to empowering local Malaysian communities through various initiatives that are meaningful to the villages. Amongst the on-going Connecting Communities Projects are producing handmade Mengkuang based products with a community in Pahang which are found at selected Starbucks stores. Apart from the Mengkuang products, Starbucks has also developed banana based food products with raw bananas sourced through three rural villages which currently is retailing at all Starbucks stores. 15 percent of the proceeds go back to these villages. Addition to these community service projects, Starbucks incentivizes customers to use their own tumblers when getting their favorite drinks with the end goal to reduce usage of paper cups. Lastly, for those who are keen on gardening and in need of organic fertilizers, they can collect neatly packed used coffee grounds under an initiative called ‘grounds for your garden’ at select Starbucks stores.  
 
Through this year’s Global Month of Service community project - ‘Making A Difference, Donate A Book’, 35,000 villagers across 12 communities will benefit from the 6 community libraries to be set up by May 2017. This involves 610 partners (employees) with a targeted collection of 10,000 books/reading materials. Starbucks have always believed Starbucks can – and should – have a positive impact on the communities we serve. One person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. By being a catalyst for engagement in service; we believe that we can create opportunities in communities that will result in long term individual, social, economic and civic benefit. 
 
 
About Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd
 
Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd is wholly owned by Berjaya Group Berhad and a licensee of Starbucks Coffee International. The company operates Starbucks retail locations throughout Malaysia and is committed to offering the world’s finest coffee while enriching Malaysians’ lives one cup at a time. Starbucks Malaysia has been named as Malaysia’s best employer at the Aon Hewitt Best Employers- Malaysia 2015 Awards, receiving the title - ‘Best of the Best’. Aon Hewitt Best Employers Award is deemed to be one of the most prestigious awards in recognizing companies with high employee engagement, compelling employer brand, effective leadership and high performance culture. In 2014, Starbucks Malaysia has been awarded with the HR Best Practices Gold Award in the Malaysia Human Resources Award 2014 - organized by the Malaysia Institute of Human Resources Management (MIHRM). For more information, please visit the official site at www.starbucks.com.my or check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/StarbucksMalaysian and through the Starbucks Newsroom.
 
About Starbucks

Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience please visit us in our stores, online at Starbucks.com and through the Starbucks Newsroom.


SOURCE : Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Salleharon Ahmad                                
Starbucks Malaysia                                             
Tel : +6 018-2339166                                       
Email : salleharon@starbucks.com.my       
 
Name : Clara Goh 
Starbucks Malaysia 
Tel : +6 0175110154 
Email : claragoh@starbucks.com.my 

--BERNAMA