Karl Vella Foundation Awarded Global Community Impact Grant From The Starbucks Foundation
As part of The Starbucks Foundation’s Global Community Impact Grants program, the Karl Vella Foundation was selected to receive a $10,000 grant. This grant award is thanks to a nomination from Starbucks partner company (licensee) db Group, which operates the Starbucks brand in Malta. Through this unique program, The Starbucks Foundation invites licensees to nominate local nonprofit organisations in their community. This round of grant recipients was selected from more than 100 nominated local nonprofit organisations across 50 markets around the world.
Founded in memory of Karl Vella, who lost his battle with cancer in 2014, the Foundation offers free psychological support and provides a safe haven for families to find comfort, share their stories and forge connections with others who understand their experiences. So far, it has supported more than 350 grieving adults and 700 children with a range of services.
“This grant will enable us to continue expanding our services to reach more people in need. For an organisation like ours, this kind of encouragement is transformational and we thank all those involved for making it happen,” said Claire Chircop, co-founder and chairperson of the Karl Vella Foundation.
The grant will go to the foundation’s Life Beyond Loss programme, which aims to help the children understand and accept the reality of loss and process the pain of grief, while equipping them to continue with a meaningful life. The programme consists of 12 sessions, facilitated by a grief therapist. The programme will be offered to different age-groups of children and youths, ranging from 5 to 16 years old.
The Starbucks Foundation’s Global Community Impact Grants program supports nonprofit organisations driving programs that create meaningful local or regional impact, expanding on the company’s ambition to contribute positively to our communities. This program builds on other initiatives of The Starbucks Foundation, including Neighbourhood Grants, Origin Grants and Disaster Response Grants which focus on enabling community resilience and prosperity and uplifting communities affected by disaster. Since the program launch in 2022, The Starbucks Foundation and licensee partners have awarded more than $14 million in Global Community Impact Grants to more than 200 nonprofit organisations across more than 60 markets.
“Since the beginning, Starbucks has set out to be a different kind of company – one that prioritises our partners (employees), customers, and the communities we serve in locally relevant ways,” said Brady Brewer, CEO, international at Starbucks and board member of the The Starbucks Foundation. “Through Global Community Impact Grants, we ask our partners to elevate the causes they care about in their communities and we follow their lead, making donations to the local organisations they care about most.”
“It is a true privilege to work alongside The Starbucks Foundation to give back to local heroes who are making a big difference to people’s lives,” said Sandra Sladden, chairperson of the db Foundation.
The db Foundation had already donated some €8,419 to the Karl Vella Foundation earlier this year by organising a dinner prepared by the three finalists from MasterChef Malta Season 2.