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Coffee, Voting and Doing Good.

4/4/2012

 
Picture
Back in Chicago this morning I headed to my Starbucks for my daily coffee klatch with “The Guys”.(I’m the only Gal.)

We drink the java (NO LATTES/JUST COFFEE), dissect the news, and chew the fat for about an hour each weekday. It’s better than watching a morning news show. We are a morning news show.

At the counter I noticed Strabucks new social responsibility campaign entitled Vote Give Grow.  The Starbucks Foundation is going to divvy up $4 million to do-good organizations across the United States based on votes cast by customers with registered Starbucks cards.

Each registered cardholder/voter can vote early and often. Well, we can vote once a week for each of the four weeks in April.

So I went to the website to check it out and vote. Based on the address.zipcode on your registration the website defaults to your city (Chicago, for me) or a state if there is no specific city in a specific state. There are four choices for each city or state.

I wanted to see what was going on in Michigan since I spend about one week a month there.  And there was a really nifty economic development organization, Northern Initiatives,  listed. So I tried to vote for it.

The website says you can change your voting location one time at the beginning of the process before your first vote.  But there were no instructions or links to do so.

So I spent about 30 minutes figuring out how to send an email to a person at Starbucks. (Tip: Go to the Investor Relations page for a corporation. There is always real contact information there.)

I submitted the following comment:

“I tried to participate in the votegivegrow campaign. I wanted to vote for a Michigan organization because I have property in northern michigan. Your site says I will have an opportunity to change regions BUT I COULD NOT FIND IT. (See your website text below)

 From the website FAQ:
Can I only vote for organizations that are listed under my city or state as noted in my Starbucks.com account?
The city or state from your Starbucks.com Account will be used to show you a default region and the four associated nonprofit organizations in your region. You’ll have the opportunity to change your region until casting your first vote. Once you’ve cast your first vote, you will only be able to vote for organizations within that region. This ensures validity of the process and fairness to all participating organizations.

Please let me know what to do.”

When I get an answer I’ll include it in the blog.

I just hope I hear from Starbucks so I can vote this week.

H Mark Johnson link
4/30/2012 12:34:48 am

Just finished my own blog about Starbucks that you might appreciate. I'm keeping up with your life and am appreciative of the human being that you are. You help make the world a better place---even Chicago! Thank you. xoxox Mark


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    Rachel Goodstein

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Content copyright Rachel Goodstein 2011-2012
Photos used under Creative Commons from karlenj5, umjanedoan, Peter Fuchs, quinn.anya, Julian Stallabrass, How I See Life, Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis, chadmagiera, Andrew Ciscel, JasonParis, JoopDorresteijn, juggernautco, Around the rings1992, USDAgov, juggernautco, Urban Outbacker, oddsock, Damian Cugley, twm1340, League of Women Voters of California, kate.gardiner, Dylan Passmore, Caveman Chuck Coker, Benimoto, jelloneck, Michigan Municipal League (MML), jiazi, DonkeyHotey, wallygrom, USDAgov, Lee Coursey, danielmoyle, Cee-Lo Knows, artifishall, Marty Hogan, Adam Jones, Ph.D., quinn.anya, Cee-Lo Knows, Images_of_Money, raybdbomb, anarchosyn, dok1, Tony Armstrong [The Personal Account], AlishaV, dibau_naum_h, yoppy, Sally E J Hunter, puroticorico, Glyn Lowe Photoworks