Starbucks Sparks Hope

Making early education accessible to poor communities

By Gail J. Pelayo

The Sparkhope project is only on its fifth month and it still has a long way to go.

It is a widely held belief that education is the great equalizer. Filipinos put a premium on education because it equips them with the ability to steer their lives in the direction they want to go. But more than that, education, in the early stages of life, ignites the flame of hope for better things. This is the realization that Starbucks’ and UNICEF’s SparkHope project wants to convey, especially to its loyal coffee patrons.

Done in partnership with UNICEF, a leading institution advocating for children’s welfare, this project aims to enlighten the Starbucks community on the importance of early learning in the lives of young children and encourage them to take part in this noble endeavor. More importantly, it provides impoverished communities with access to sustainable early education.

Enrich and educate

Launched last November 2004, Starbucks and its numerous coffee shops adopted indigent communities deprived of early learning programs for children aged 6 and below. According to studies, this stage comprises 98% of children’s formative and brain development. It is at this point where they absorb huge amounts of information, making it a crucial stage because what they pick up at this stage will most probably shape the kind of perspective and understanding they will carry all throughout their lives.

Starbucks has thought of innovative ways to produce funds to assure the sustainability of the project.

Almost instantly, the project has benefited a number of communities. Starbucks currently has 76 outlets, each one with an adopted community. The Rustan’s Coffee Corporation took in 9 more communities under the supervision of UNICEF, on top of the communities adopted by each Starbucks shop. To create a lasting and more meaningful impact, the organizers have chosen the more poverty-stricken communities, those who find it hard to meet the most basic of necessities - most of which are located in the Eastern Visayas region. The nine barangays under the care of Rustan’s Coffee Corporation come from the provinces of Masbate, Aurora, Eastern Samar, Camarines Norte, Saranggani, Northern Samar, Isabela, Negros Occidental, and Maguindanao.

The Sparkhope project has a two-pronged strategy. While it equips barangays with the necessary facilities for a functioning day-care and pre-school education, it also enhances and augments the skills of frontline workers or the day care and pre-school teachers in the proper administering of activities and lessons. With this approach, Starbucks and UNICEF both believe that an enriching experience could be achieved for the benefit of the parents, teachers, and most especially the children.

An effective education is highly dependent on the skills and efficacy of its facilitators, or in this case day care workers and pre-school teachers, in the delivery of mind-enriching and interesting lessons. And since children in their toddler years possess short attention spans, it is imperative that creative activities be implemented to achieve greater absorption of lessons. Part of the training of these frontline workers is the know-how on the development of appropriate curriculum activities for children aged 3 to 5. An integral portion of their training is the monitoring of a child’s development, enhancement of a child-centered teaching and learning process, and knowledge on the principles of integrated early childhood learning.

Recognizing that a child’s day can never be complete without play, the project integrates a neighborhood recreational activity facilitated by volunteer parents who were trained to supervise healthy and playful interaction of the children.

The educational curriculum administered to the children is geared towards early stimulation and rousing of interest among the children. This involves the use of instructional materials such as educational books and toys, psycho-social stimulation and cognitive development. This process has been proven to increase a child’s IQ level by about 10 points and reduce the probability of school dropouts and repetition rates.
The project also gave attention to the factors that would impede a child’s learning. Realizing that health and malnutrition could reduce the learning ability of the children, several activities of the project are geared towards the improvement of their health and provision of the necessary nutrients. Immunization and monitoring of growth and nutrition status are included in the program.

Creative fundraising

In order to assure the sustainability of the project, Starbucks has thought of innovative ways to produce funds for the project. In every Starbucks coffeehouse, an independent board panel stands where materials about the Sparkhope project are advertised. A pigeonhole in the board contains small, stationary-like envelopes intended for customers who would find the project fitting for any amount of benefaction.

As part of their goal to increase the funds for the project, they allocated sales of several items for the benefit of Sparkhope. The successful launch of the Starbucks Christmas Traditions 2005 Planner jumpstarted the fundraising. Through a specially marked card, which coffee drinkers are invited to fill with corresponding stickers, they are entitled to redeem a wonderfully designed Starbucks planner. For every redeemed planner, P50 is donated to the Sparkhope project.

The sales of Ensaymada and Ham and Cheese Croissant have also been diverted to the project. For the month of February to March, Starbucks declared “Marshmallow Mocha Mondays”. This means that all sales of Marshmallow Mocha bought on all Mondays of both months are again allocated for the project.

Concerned benefactors will not go on wondering where their contributions will be used. Each corresponding amount has an equivalent educational material, which will be provided to the communities. From as simple as story books to dolls and musical instruments and to the more functional playground, the amount donated to the project will be used to create viable learning centers equipped with the right educational materials for use of the children.

Noble cause

Hope, they say, is the last thing to run out even in the direst of situations. That is probably why Starbucks and UNICEF decided to choose this project to beef up children’s undiluted hopes through early learning. By providing new opportunities to children and guardians in the poor communities, Starbucks and UNICEF hope that this would be their ticket out of their destitute situation.

The Sparkhope project is only on its fifth month and it still has a long way to go. As of March, Starbucks has already raised P1.4 million from their creative fundraising for the project. Now, there is one good reason to buy cups and cups of coffee at Starbucks minus the guilt!