The food pantry at The Light House Homeless Prevention Support Center. Light House pantry volunteers help to sort, set up, and distribute thousands of pounds of healthy pantry items each week. (Credit: Lara Ippolito)
The Light House Nominated by Local Starbucks Partners (employees) and Awarded Grant from The Starbucks Foundation
ANNAPOLIS, MD – As part of The Starbucks Foundation’s Neighborhood Grants program, The Light House Homeless Prevention Support Center in Annapolis was recently selected to receive a $3,000 grant. This grant award is thanks to a nomination(s) from a local Starbucks partner(s) (employee(s)) who recognized the work of the organization in providing vital homelessness prevention and support services in their community. Through this unique program, The Starbucks Foundation invites Starbucks partners (employees) to nominate a local organization in their community. Thanks to local Starbucks partners (employees), this is the second Neighborhood Grant that The Light House has been awarded this year.
This grant award will provide much needed funding for The Light House, which offers a variety of programs and services to individuals and families in the community who are either unsheltered, chronically homeless, or at risk of homelessness. The organization provides food, clothing, case management, and other vital services to over 100 of these community members in need each day.
“The Light House is where neighbors help neighbors and we are deeply grateful to have this kind of local caring support from our neighborhood Starbucks partners,” stated Heather Cassity, Executive Director at The Light House. “Our dedicated staff and volunteers have been serving a record number of individuals and families in need and keeping up with this increase in demand has been a challenge. We provide twenty-four-seven support to our most vulnerable neighbors and we could not do this without the love and support from our community. Thank you to our local Starbucks partners (employees) and The Starbucks Foundation for helping us continue to break the cycle of homelessness.”
Last year alone, The Light House provided emergency and transitional housing for 189 individuals including 25 children. In addition, their Safe Harbour Resource Center staff assisted over 280 households at risk of losing their housing and successfully prevented them from becoming homeless. The Light House also distributed over 270,000 pounds of healthy pantry items and provided over 83,000 meals to individuals and families struggling with homelessness and food insecurity. This generous funding from The Starbucks Foundation will help provide the vital programs and services vulnerable community members need to live healthy and stable lives.
“Every day, our partners (employees) support the communities and neighborhoods that our stores are a part of. We’re committed to making each community stronger by listening to our partners,who know their neighborhoods best,” said Aldrinana Leung, acting executive director of The Starbucks Foundation. “This year, we saw the largest number of Neighborhood Grants nominations to date and The Starbucks Foundation is humbled to be able to support the people and organizations that make our communities better.”
About The Starbucks Foundation: The Starbucks Foundation strengthens humanity by transforming lives across the world, with a focus on enabling community resiliency and prosperity and uplifting communities affected by disaster. Established in 1997, The Starbucks Foundation is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization under U.S. law. Learn more at sbux.co/foundation.Note: As 501(c)(3) charitable organization, The Starbucks Foundation is separate from Starbucks Corporation. Any references to grants from The Starbucks Foundation should clearly indicate that the grant is from “The Starbucks Foundation” and not from “Starbucks,” “Starbucks Coffee Company” or “Starbucks Corporation.”Contact: To contact The Starbucks Foundation, email Foundation@starbucks.com. To contact the Starbucks Communications team, email press@starbucks.com.
About The Light House: The Light House, located at 10 Hudson Street in Annapolis, has served the community as a basic needs provider of food, shelter, and clothing for over 30 years. Its mission is to help rebuild lives with compassion by providing shelter and services to prevent homelessness and empower people as they transition toward housing, employment, and self-sufficiency. For more information about The Light House, please visit their website at www.annapolislighthouse.org, or on Facebook/Instagram @annapolislighthouse.
