At-risk students wake up to success

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Sept. 13, 2002 | 2:44 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Sept. 14, 2002

A nonprofit foundation created by Starbucks is reaching out to local elementary students, but not so they will become the coffee chain's newest customers.

The Starbucks Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson to help support a new tutoring program for at-risk youth.

With the help of the grant, the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson plans to offer the only free, after-school tutoring program for elementary school students. Club staff are recruiting volunteer tutors to assist youth with reading and homework assignments.

Kim Spore, director of development for the Henderson club, said the program will be targeted to students from low-income families.

"The Boys & Girls Club of Henderson has made a 100 percent commitment to strategically place ourselves within the communities that demographically show lower income or at-risk kids," she said, adding that 86 percent of the youth who are members of the club come from families whose annual household income is below $22,000.

"Statistics have shown that kids that are at-risk, from lower-income homes, generally do not do very well in school," she said.

Spore said half of the grant money will be used to pay for the salary of a director to oversee the new program, and the remaining half will go toward purchasing books and supplies.

Spore said she is hoping in-kind donations and volunteer hours will help form the program.

Once the club receives the funding, staff members plan to start recruiting tutors and training staff through the end of this month. The tutoring program is expected to start Oct. 1.

Club staff members plan to get Starbucks employees involved by having them inform customers about the opportunities to volunteer or donate books.

Employees will also wear buttons that say, "Ask me how to change the life of a child."

With the help of Starbucks, the Boys & Girls Club hopes to attract about 20 volunteers.

The more than 4,000 youth who are members of the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson already receive fresh pastries from Starbucks, which donates the goods every day. But the youth will also be treated to Starbucks hot chocolate at Henderson stores as another incentive for the program.

"They'll get to go to Starbucks and get treated with hot chocolate, pastries ... no coffee, of course," Spore said.

The Starbucks Foundation, formed in 1997, is a nonprofit group created by Starbucks to support charitable causes in its communities.

Under a basic literacy grant program, through which Starbucks employees submit grant applicants on behalf of charitable organizations, the foundation has awarded more than 485 grants totaling $4.3 million to literacy, school and community-based organizations across North America.

Kevin Carothers, marketing specialist for Starbucks, said the store managers in the Henderson stores submitted the idea of a tutoring program to the foundation.

"We are honored to be able to help improve the lives of children and families in Henderson," he said. "Starbucks' commitment to giving back to our communities is just as important as making a perfect cup of coffee."