Those who are on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight are being given a break this December, and it is coming from Starbucks. The coffee giant is providing free coffee for those workers all month long.
If you happen to be a healthcare worker or someone else who works on the frontlines of the COVID 19 fight, then a tall hot or iced coffee has your name on it when you stop by Starbucks. Anyone in the medical profession can take advantage of this, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, therapists, social workers, counselors, and any other professional working in the field. There are others who also qualify, including those who work in housekeeping and janitorial jobs. Firefighters, dispatchers, police officers, and members of the military can also get a free coffee.
Starbucks is going even further to help with the struggles these workers often face. $100,000 has already been contributed to the National Alliance on Mental Illness for the use of virtual mental health services. Plans to hand out 50,000 Starbucks care packages and gift cards across the country to frontline workers is also underway. Primarily, they want to show gratitude to those who are working during such a difficult time. They are also hoping that other companies will follow suit.
“Hopefully other brands will join us in thinking about how [they can] use their platform to again show support,” Virginia Tenpenny, Starbucks’s vice president of global social impact, told USA TODAY. “Little deposits in morale can really go a long way, just so that they feel the support from our community.”
Starbucks has been responsible for these types of coffee giveaway initiatives, even in 2020. From March through May, the company gave over 2 million free cups of coffee to professionals that were working with the pandemic. Millions of dollars have also been donated from the Starbucks Foundation to food banks, relief funds, and local organizations.