Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Employees Connect with Massachusetts’ Schools

Aug. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Reading, Ma – GEF and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.’s (GMCR) Keurig business unit, based in Reading and Wakefield, MA, have teamed up to connect employees with volunteer opportunities at local schools through an array of programs including clean-up projects and outdoor gardens. In doing so, the organization hopes to improve school grounds for students in their region and foster a more sustainable lifestyle within the company and the schools. Many of these projects will encourage children to experience the outdoors, using their natural environment as a learning laboratory.

Chris Stevens, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility at Keurig, commented on the partnership with GEF: “Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. is proud to support GEF in working toward our shared values of achieving sustainability and connecting with our communities in a positive and impactful way.”  

Victoria Waters, the CEO and Founder of GEF, added that, “It’s through partnerships with such progressive and altruistic organizations, like GMCR, that tremendous steps toward accessible sustainability education in K-12 schools become a reality.”

Beyond connecting employees with volunteer opportunities locally, GEF will also share the ways in which GMCR is taking steps toward sustainability in their business practices through social media and other outlets. Consumers will become educated about sustainability in the coffee industry to better understand the impacts of their purchasing decisions.  As an example of such profound community involvement, GMCR purchased nearly 40 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee in 2009 alone. By participating in Fair Trade coffee sales, the company is helping restore balance to the power dynamic in the coffee supply chain. Doing so provides co-ops and farmers with a fair price for their products, helping local societies and economies where the beans are grown afford additional resources for health care and education.

To learn more about GMCR’s values around sustainability and their Brewing a Better World campaign please visit their website at www.gmcr.com/csr.