In the United States, 49 million Americans still do not have access to adequate food, and more than a third of them are children.

Matthew Clark, a district manager and Regional Community Lead at Starbucks Coffee Company, was inspired to take action to alleviate that hunger in his communities. Last year he coordinated the efforts of 680 Starbucks employees in 58 service projects with food banks, soup kitchens and rescue missions. Over the course of two weeks and across six states, they sorted, prepared and served food to members of their communities. They cleaned storage and prep areas and organized inventory. Together they contributed 1,800 hours. Most important, they pledged to continue volunteering with food-related nonprofit organizations.

“Seeing what we can do when we work as one group of committed partners and not just 380 stores spread out over six states has been nothing short of inspiring,” says Matthew.