In January 2007 Starbucks imprinted 5 million of its iconic white coffee cups with the following quote by Save the Children President and CEO Charlie MacCormack: "With every generation of children comes the hope for a better world — but only through the provision of education for all. The millions of children who never see the inside of a school are a loss to all humanity."

Click here to learn what you can do to help

In 2005, Starbucks partnered with Save the Children to positively impact coffee growing communities in the highlands of Guatemala. In this area, most people are Mayan and many do not speak Spanish, the official language of Guatemala. They often remain marginalized from mainstream Guatemalan society, suffering from high rates of poverty and low levels of educational achievement.

In response, Starbucks committed $1.5 million to the Starbucks Guatemala Education Initiative, a four-year program designed in partnership with Save the Children to bring bilingual, bicultural education (in Mayan and Spanish) to pre-primary, primary and secondary school students in the three provinces of Huehuetenango, Sololá and Quiché.

By improving the education of girls and boys in rural Guatemala, Starbucks and their partners are working with Save the Children to give communities the best tools to build a path out of poverty by improving both their lives and those of their children.