Starbucks is already well-known for its coffee, but in light of a grant the corporation has given the University, it may soon be known on campus for helping children learn to read.
The Starbucks Foundation recently awarded the EMU Child Care and Development Centers(CCDC) with an $8,100 grant to fund a children’s literacy program, which will begin fall term.
The Starbucks Storyteller Program, which is a collaboration between the 18th Street Starbucks store, the Greek Life office and the CCDC, will involve student volunteers from the greek system who will read to children on a regular basis.
EMU grantwriter Mary Farrington, who secured the grant, said she started looking into obtaining the grant several months ago because she thought it would be “a nice opportunity for the child-care center to promote literacy.”
Grant money will be used to buy 400 new books and will pay for book repair and other supplies. A part-time program coordinator will also be hired.
As of January 2001, the Starbucks Foundation, which began in 1997, has donated more than $1 million to 200 organizations to promote children’s literacy. One way this money is distributed is through opportunity grants, in the amount of up to $10,000, that are given to organizations that serve low-income or under-served youth and children.
Many of the children who attend the seven child care sites run through the CCDC do come from low-income families because often they are the children of student parents, said Cheryl Jordan, the assistant child care coordinator.
In between studies and other responsibilities, these student parents may have difficulty finding the time to read to their children at home, especially if they are single parents, she said.
Because of this, reading to children is already emphasized in the CCDC, she said. But she welcomes the extra resources and volunteers the new program will bring to the center.
“Teachers are really excited about the students coming in,” she said.
Student volunteers will read to children ranging in age from 1 to 7 years old at the CCDC sites, she said. And on the weekends, students will visit the Starbucks store on 18th Street to read to customers’ children there.
Steve Ogo, the manager for the 18th Street Starbucks, worked with Farrington to obtain the grant for the University. He said the reading program is part of Starbucks’ corporate philosophy of encouraging individual stores to become part of the local community.
The Storyteller Program also reflects a company and its desire to promote children’s literacy, he said.
“Kids and literacy are really big to us,” he said. “It really fit in well with what we want to do.”
With many students in the greek system out of town for the summer, student volunteers won’t be lined up until the program begins in the fall, greek adviser Shelley Sutherland said.
One student who already plans to participate, Jackie Reed, said she anticipates that many fraternity and sorority members will get involved with the program.
Reed, who is the treasurer for the Kappa Delta sorority, said she is looking forward to helping children learn to read.
“This will be a first for me, and it’s kind of exciting,” she said.