A Starbucks Marathon: 67 Stores In a Day

Many of us have great ideas and visions to do something really outstanding, but how many of us ever follow through? Several coffee news sources covered the heroic November 30th feat of a Starbucks pair who visited all 67 Starbucks outlets in Singapore on that day to raise money for the Salvation Army. The idea came from Jim Simons, a regular who often enjoyed a Starbucks cup of coffee, who shared his inspiration with Jeff Millers, managing director of Starbucks Singapore. Millers caught the vision and decided to go along for the ride/run. The goal was to spread awareness of Starbucks’ Salvation Army donation cans in every store.

Since Singapore’s Razor TV and a local radio station picked up the story, and the pictures and story were placed on Starbucks Singapore’s Facebook page, it seems they have succeeded. You can go to http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_609772... to see the videos 1 and 2. It’s an inspiring story of a vision fulfilled. The pair wanted to complete their marathon by foot and mass transit, so they did have some rest in between their runs from store to store. At each store they made a stop…to drink an espresso?.. no… to deposit $5 into the Salvation Army box.

Throughout the city, the pair gave away Starbucks gift cards, communicated and shared pictures with the office through their cell phones, dealt with rainy weather and long waits, finally reaching their last destination just minutes before midnight. The pictures and brief story can be found on the Facebook page link by clicking the accompanying photo.

It’s amazing what a coffee fan can do when he sets his mind to it. Simons wasn’t just a jitter-filled coffee drinker who had to use up some extra caffeine and energy. He, with Millers, gave themselves barely over a month to prepare and ended up jogging a little more than they were used to doing. At the end of the day they each had donated $335 to a good charity, contributed about $100 to the city’s mass transit, and earned a signed tee-shirt and a certificate. They won the admiration of many for reaching a goal and pulling off a creative plug for a worthwhile charity.

And it all started with a cup of coffee…….

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