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| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Foster Parents Plan and The Second Cup
aid kids in coffee-growing countriesJuly 16, 1997; Canadian FundRaiser
Foster Parents Plan has teamed up with The Second Cup Ltd., a leading Canadian specialty coffee retailer, in a first-ever corporate partnership for both organizations. The association not only benefits needy children in the world's coffee-producing countries, but also, for The Second Cup is an opportunity to give something back to the countries that produce its primary product.. Why a corporate partnership? For Foster Parents Plan, it meant that more Foster Children and their communities will be sponsored by Canadian Foster Parents. Other benefits include a dynamic relationship on which to build, as well as the chance to educate Second Cup customers about developing world issues. "This partnership provides us with the opportunity to give back to the communities that produce coffee, while at the same time, helping the world's most precious resource - our children," says Jennifer Murray, vice-president of marketing for The Second Cup Ltd.
"We benefit in buying the world's finest coffee from many countries where social conditions are far less favourable than in North America," says Michael Bregman, chairman and CEO of The Second Cup Ltd. "Foster Parents Plan allows us the opportunity to provide help to children in need in those same communities. This is an important element of Second Cup's ongoing commitment to give back to these communities with which we associate, both here and abroad. We believe in Foster Parents Plan, and are thankful for the meaningful partnership relationship we enjoy together. We hope to build it further."
Specific communities targeted
The big winners are the Foster Children and their communities. Foster Parents Plan and The Second Cup Ltd. carefully selected communities within four countries for the partnership: Villa Colombia, Colombia; El Tobon, Guatemala; Batang, Indonesia; and Meru, Kenya.Each of the 270 Second Cup stores in Canada sponsors at least one child from one of these communities, bringing the number of Second Cup Foster Children to date to about 280. This number increases with every new Second Cup store that opens its doors. Through sponsorship dollars, and through the donation of 50 cents from the sale of each Cirque de cafe tumbler, the partnership is making a difference.
Sponsoring a child is also making a difference in Montreal, Quebec - home of Second Cup store owners Fazal and Jack Ahmed. These two brothers each own their own store in the heart of the city. Fazal's store is located in Montreal's Gare Central, and one of its walls is decorated with a beautiful mural of his Foster Child. The store attracts a lot of traffic, and so does Fazal's bulletin board on which photos and letters from the store's Foster Child are displayed.
"Customers come to me to ask `How does this program work? Is it something that I can get involved with too?'," he says. "I explain to them that we are helping children in great need." His customers' feedback is so positive that Fazal hopes to add a second Foster Child before the end of the year - one who would be supported by his customers.
Fazal says that the program makes him feel as if he's making a difference. "I'm working hard and enjoying success - it's important for me to give back some of this success to the countries that have made it possible."
When he first heard about the partnership, Fazal wanted to learn more. Once he received photographs and updates about his Foster Child, the program became even more personal to him. "It made me think of my own three children," he says.
A family commitment to the cause
Fazal's commitment is shared by his brother Jack, who recently opened a store on Montreal's St. Catherine Street. Jack made the opening into a fundraiser by collecting donations for Foster Parents Plan. A third member of the family will continue this family tradition in June, as Fazal and Jack's brother Aftab opens his new Montreal store.Fortunately, the Ahmeds are not alone. They are joined by store owners such as Isabelle Duchesne from Montreal, who raised additional funds for foster Parents Plan by auctioning off decorated paper cups. And Graham Ward of Brampton, Ontario, whose staff sold raffle tickets for jackets, shirts and gift baskets. Together, the Second Cup store owners and Foster Parents Plan are proving that corporate partnerships can be effective at building relationships with current markets and new donors.
Based, with permission on an article in the Foster Parents Plan 1996 Annual Report. For more information, call (416) 920-1654 or e-mail: n-cno@plan.geis.com
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