Beyond the cup. - Starbucks

The CUP FundSince 1999, the CUP (Caring Unites Partners) Fund hasassisted partners with financial support as a result of anunexpected event such as an illness, fire or natural disaster.Starbucks partners support the CUP Fund with personalcontributions. This past year the CUP Fund responded toan unprecedented number of partners in need as a resultof the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita inthe U.S. Gulf Coast region. More than 300 partners alongthe Gulf Coast received assistance from the CUP Fund,totaling more than $225,000. In total, the CUP Fundprovided more than $1 million in direct financial assistanceto more than 1,000 partners in fiscal 2005.Dear Mr. Schultz,My name is Gail Bickham and I am a Starbucks partner. I wasin New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and experiencedthe massive chaos. I made a personal decision to stay behind inNew Orleans with my extended family and “ride out the storm.”Nobody seems to understand that decision.Gail Bickham, a Starbucks partner from New Orleans, endured a traumaticexperience during and after Hurricane Katrina. She wrote Starbucks chairmanHoward Schultz a personal letter (reprinted here) expressing her gratitude for thesupport she received from Starbucks.Starbucks Response toHurricane KatrinaStarbucks support of partners was fully tested in 2005.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we were determinedto locate every partner in the area and offer assistance tothose who had been affected by the storm. With the help ofour store managers, district managers and the Internet, wehad accounted for everyone – except Ronald Oliver, a newpartner who had just completed his first shift. Finding Ronaldproved to be a formidable challenge, so Starbucks turned toa local vendor that does civil recovery work. After a shortinvestigation, we made contact with Ronald’s mother andfound out that he was safe in Georgia.Many of the partners hit hardest by the storm receivedimmediate assistance from the CUP Fund. Starbucks alsoextended pay to partners for a period of time, ensuringthey were paid even if their stores were closed, and madeavailable other emergency assistance. Since many banksremained closed, Starbucks worked with Winn-Dixie Storesso partners had a place to cash both CUP Fund grant checksand paychecks. In addition, Starbucks helped partners findalternative positions in our stores outside the affected areas.Starbucks extended a helping hand to partners in a verypersonal way. After things stabilized, one of our partners,Gail Bickham, wrote the following letter about her hurricanerelatedexperience.My mother, who has Parkinson’s disease and heart trouble,was with me. So were my sister and her two daughters, one aparaplegic in a wheelchair, and my own 14-year-old daughter.As the water started to rise in my sister’s first-floor apartment,we managed to get to higher ground, leaving everything we had,except a little food, under water. My family and I spent three dayswithout power and had no contact with the outside world. It wasvery traumatic for us all.On the third day, we were rescued by boat and brought to safety –or so we thought. We were put on the I-10 in the evening heat andbasically left to die. We were a few people amongst hundreds onthe Interstate – hot, hungry, and some had already died. I swear,it felt like a third-world country. I could not imagine it – mymother, my niece, all of us, were dying in this way.After several hours, we were told to move further down theInterstate, which we somehow did, wheelchair and all. By thegrace of God, at 1:00 A.M. my niece Tiffany found her strengthand stood in front of an approaching bus to make it stop.She begged the state trooper to let us on, but he refused, notsympathetic at all. Then the bus driver got out and insisted thatwe be allowed on the bus along with about 15 other people. Thedriver’s name was David, and he was a gift from God.I used the remaining power in my cell phone battery to calla Starbucks district manager. Hearing that I was en route toHouston, Starbucks met us at the Astrodome and immediatelyhoused us in a hotel. I honestly don’t know where we wouldbe otherwise.I have always known that Starbucks is the #1 best company towork for in the world, and this confirms it even more.I cannot express my gratitude enough, but please understand thatwithout Starbucks, I don’t think I would have made it out of thehorrors of Katrina alive.Update: As of December 2, 2005, Gail is back at work at aStarbucks store in New Orleans.For more information about Starbucks emergency reliefefforts, see page 38.70WORKPLACE