Starbucks Joins Local Employers, Community to Raise over $2M for King County Homeless Families

“No Child Sleeps Outside” campaign beats goal and raises $2,174,740 in 45 days to provide emergency shelter for hundreds of children and their families in Seattle and King CountyThousands of individuals and more than 50 businesses and foundations contributed to the campaign, including a $500,000 contribution from The Starbucks FoundationNew funding will help bring an additional 800 family members inside to warmth, safety, and stability, and move more than 300 families into permanent housing; Kevin Johnson: ‘Every child deserves to have emergency shelter’

Businesses and individuals across King County came together once again this past holiday season in support of the annual No Child Sleeps Outside campaign that addresses the crisis of hundreds of families and children sleeping outside in King County. With contributions from more than 50 local businesses, foundations, and organizations, as well as thousands of individuals, Mary’s Place – the region’s largest family emergency shelter provider – raised $2,174,740 in 45 days, exceeding the campaign goal of $1.5 million.

The Starbucks Foundation announced a campaign launch gift of $250,000, as well as an additional grant of $250,000 to match customer donations raised online and via the Starbucks mobile app. At an event today at Mary’s Place to celebrate the exciting campaign results, the company announced that the match had been met, bringing this year’s total contribution to $500,000. Since joining the campaign two years ago, The Starbucks Foundation has contributed more than $2.5 million.

“While there are many priorities to be addressed in Seattle and King County, none are as urgent as the desperate needs of the hundreds of families with small children who don’t have a safe place to spend the night,” said Kevin Johnson, Starbucks president and ceo. “The Seattle business community, Starbucks partners, and thousands of citizens have championed the No Child Sleeps Outside campaign since 2014 to help ensure more children have a warm place to sleep. But until the city and county leaders implement their reforms and make these families a priority, these short-term efforts will not suffice. We know the crisis of unsheltered families is both the most critical and solvable part of the complex homelessness problem in our community, and every child in King County deserves to have emergency shelter.”

Last year’s successful No Child Sleeps Outside campaign allowed Mary’s Place to open three new family shelters in White Center, Shoreline, and Northshore that have provided services for over 500 families. This year’s $2 million will provide for continued operation of these new shelters to bring an additional 800 family members inside to warmth, safety, and stability, and move more than 300 families into permanent housing.

“Family homelessness is solvable, and once again our community has come together to raise the funds to address this community crisis! Thanks to the extraordinary gifts of our donors and supporters, we will bring more homeless families inside and provide them with comprehensive housing, employment, and wellness services,” said Marty Hartman, executive director of Mary’s Place. “The amazing success of this campaign gets us that much closer to our goal of bringing all families inside, and we are so grateful!”

The Schultz Family Foundation, also a major sponsor of last year’s campaign, announced a $250,000 grant. This support will expand upon the success of work launched last spring with Schultz Family Foundation funding that focused on helping families exiting from Mary’s Place obtain safe and stable housing. In 2017, as a result of this funding, Mary’s Place’s helped 280 families obtain safe, stable places to live.

“We’ve taken an important first step to get more families off the streets, and we hope to build on Mary’s Place’s successful efforts to ensure that families and children transition from emergency housing to safe and stable homes,” said Sheri Schultz, president and co-founder of the Schultz Family Foundation. “One of our foundation’s goals is to encourage and promote sustainable best practices that address our homeless crisis. We are extremely pleased to partner with local businesses, government, and community organizations to move our city and county in this direction and ensure that no child or family needs to choose life on our streets.” 

The Starbucks Foundation, Schultz Family Foundation, Regence, Lakeside Industries, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Graphite Design Group, Albertsons Safeway, Amazon, Boeing, Concur, Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants, Get Hitched Give Hope, HNN Associates, Laird Norton Companies, Nordstrom, Sabey Corporation, SAP Foundation, Women’s Council of Realtors, Zillow Group, Aegis Living, Expedia, Family Heritage Life, Google, Hasbro, Key Bank, LMC – A Lennar Company, National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM), Phinney Bischoff, Scan Design Foundation, Uber, Unico Properties, Vulcan, Washington Federal Bank, Wells Fargo Advisors, Weyerhaeuser, Biscuit Bitch, Brooks Running, Cairncross & Hempelmann, Chihuly Studio, Coldstream Holdings, Inc., Comcast NBCUniversal, Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Holland America Line, Jet City Property Management, Lease Crutcher Lewis, Neighborhood Grills, Nintendo of America, Puget Sound Business Travel Association, Russell Investments, Seattle Mariners, Skylark Café, Slalom, Washington State Bar Association, RUN Studios, and Cre8ive Empowerment.

About Starbucks

Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with more than 25,000 stores around the globe, Starbucks 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 our stores or online atnews.starbucks.com and Starbucks.com.