Thanks to Starbucks partners (employees) and The @Starbucks Foundation for recognizing how we are making our communities stronger. #NeighborhoodGrants
Press Release
February 1, 2022
Community Living Association for South Simcoe (CLASS)
Awarded Grant from the Starbucks Foundation
The Neighborhood Grant recognizes community impact the organization has in supporting people with developmental disabilities.
As part of The Starbucks Foundation’s Neighborhood Grants program, CLASS was one of 1200 non profits selected from 11,000 applicants across North America to receive a $1,250 grant. Through this unique program, The Starbucks Foundation invites Starbucks partners to nominate a local organization in their community. CLASS is thankful for this nomination from two local Starbucks partners/employees who recognized the important work that CLASS provides in the South Simcoe area. CLASS would like to thank Dawn Smith, Senior Support Worker at CLASS and part-time Starbuck’s employee at the Barrie Mapleview location, along with Tammy Schmidt who also works at Starbuck’s for putting CLASS forward for this grant.
“CLASS is not just about what field it serves, but what it stands for and for whom. They provide guidance, support, encouragement, achievements, and enrichment to both those supported and to their staff,” Dawn Smith said.
Tammy shared her experience stating that, “CLASS has meant a great deal to our family over the past number of years. They were there to assist our family when our son Christopher was diagnosed with Autism with speech and language, occupational therapy, and any other assistance we needed. During these visits they noticed that our other son Nicholas also had autistic tendencies and so they were there for us with him as well. To say they were a part of our daily routine was an understatement. To appointments as well as assistance at preschool, to even into the public school…they were alongside of us the whole way. They were with us for milestones, a shoulder to cry on or to just talk. From preschool to now being an adult, our next journey with CLASS begins again. I look forward to this new journey as I know that they will have just as much of an impact on our lives as they did then. They will be alongside working with us to ensure that our boys experience as much as possible and to that I am grateful.”
The Community Living Association for South Simcoe (CLASS) supports people with a developmental disability. CLASS is a non-profit, charitable organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The agency was established in 1962 by a group of parents who wanted services in their own community for their children who had a diagnosis of a developmental disability.
This grant will enable CLASS to continue offering programs and services to people with developmental disabilities.
The Starbucks Foundation’s Neighborhood Grants program supports grassroots, community-led nonprofit organizations through catalytic investments in the form of grants. Neighborhood Grants also help build sustained local impact and inspire increased partner (employee) engagement with nonprofit organizations that work in their communities.
“We know that our impact in communities is most meaningful when our efforts begin with our partners (employees) who know their neighbors best,” said Starbucks chief social impact officer and The Starbucks Foundation board member Virginia Tenpenny. “Since the beginning Starbucks has been about more than coffee. We are a people company rooted in a mission to nurture the human spirit. To do this well, we will continue to invest in meaningful ways to help our communities thrive.
