Starbucks Coffee-Alshaya Egypt LLC, a member of the Alshaya Retail Group, recently joined efforts with 4OurKidz, an Egyptian non-government organisation (NGO) to provide support on educational programmes for unprivileged youth in Egypt by building knowledge corners at local school libraries.
Following the recent entry of Starbucks in the Egyptian market and its shared objective to support education and literacy programmes, the partnership with 4OurKids saw Starbucks-Alshaya Egypt donate 20% of the first month sales at the first Starbucks Egypt store to the knowledge corners initiative. As a result, today the first knowledge corner has been completed in Al Giza Al Kawmeya School in Cairo with another currently under construction at the Mohammed Qurayem School in Alexandria.
Commenting on the tie-up, Mohammad Abdulaziz Alshaya, Chairman of Alshaya Retail Group said: “In the Arab world, our children are our most important asset as they constitute the future generation and we should strive tirelessly to provide them with the maximum support they need for a better education. We need to assist in fulfilling the dream of Egyptian youth to go to school and acquire the best possible education. Starbucks-Alshaya Egypt initiative with 4OurKidz is helping to make education more accessible for Egyptian families and students.”
The knowledge corners represent full refurbishment of school libraries providing educational equipment, completely outfitted with books, furniture and computer facilities to further complement the students’ educational curriculum in a fun and interactive way.
“At Starbucks-Alshaya, we always strive to contribute positively to the local communities in which we operate. At this stage, we are achieving that by partnering and creating initiatives that directly contribute to society’s educational programs long term sustainability,” Alshaya added.
As part of the partnership, Starbucks Partners (employees), the key ingredient of the strong local Egyptian Starbucks Coffee team, are volunteering their time to support the local schools through a varied programme of activities, helping enhance a safe, fun environment in which children can learn.
Mr. Mohammed Al Koossy, Board Member at 4OurKidz, said: “Our tie-up was an extension and solidifying step to our mission of supporting education programmes in Egypt, which comes in perfect harmony with Alshaya and Starbucks global commitment towards such noble causes.”
4OurKidz’s agenda includes educating the society on various barriers that hinder positive childhood development by raising awareness on issues including child protection, education, nutrition and health, and general awareness of children rights. The organisation specialises in assisting disadvantaged children by supporting their desire to lead a healthier, happier and more productive life towards a greater future.
Thanking Starbucks-Alshaya for the offered support, Al Koossy said: “Providing a fun environment and enhancing educational facilities will positively motivate students to read and study. In turn, today’s children will be tomorrow’s educated and productive members of the society. We are excited and thankful to Alshaya Egypt for their support to this project.”
“No doubt there has been a great impact on the visitation to the school library by students who are now spending more time there. Thanks to the efforts of Alshaya-Starbucks and 4OurKids, we now have extra capacity to ensure our new knowledge corner is offering high quality educational opportunities for our students and positively affecting their lives,” commented Mr. Mustafa Ata Ghunaim, Al Giza Al Kawmeya School principal.
During Alshaya Egypt team visit to Al Giza Al Kawmeya School in Cairo and Starbucks International team member, Martin Coles, President, Starbucks Coffee International said: “Contributing positively to the communities we are part of is fundamental to Alshaya and Starbucks. We do this at an international level by working together with coffee communities to buy coffee in a responsible and sustainable manner and at a local level by fostering volunteerism and supporting social and community building programmes that have a positive impact on the local community.”
Starbucks Coffee provides an uplifting experience that enriches people’s lives one moment, one human being, one extraordinary cup of coffee at a time. www.starbucks.com
Alshaya Egypt is a member of Alshaya Group, one of the leading retail companies operating in the Middle East, Turkey, Russia and is the franchisee for 43 international retail brands including Starbucks Coffee, Debenhams, Next, H&M, Pearle Opticians, Boots, MAC, and Claire’s Accessories. In addition to the 5 Starbucks Coffee locations in Egypt, Alshaya also operates over 200 Starbucks locations across the Middle East and Turkey, employing over 2,500 staff members in 11 different countries. www.alshaya.com
