Auburn Food Bank receives $2,000 grant from Starbucks

Published 2:08 pm Monday, July 13, 2026

Auburn Food Bank has received a grant of $2,000 from the Starbucks Foundation Neighborhood Grant program.

The food bank, 2804 Auburn Way N., provides groceries, emergency financial assistance and support for those in need to residents inside Auburn School District. The organization was one of 2,700 grant recipients out of more than 43,000 nominees across the United States and Canada.

Since 2019 the Starbucks Foundation has awarded more than 19,000 grants and invested over $30 million. The Neighborhood Grant program specifically supports grassroots, community-led nonprofit organizations, according to the Starbucks Foundation.

In order to be considered for the Neighborhood Grant program, one or more Starbucks employees must nominate the organization for impactful work that is being created in the community, according to the foundation.

Debbie Christian, executive director of Auburn Food Bank, reacted to the anonymous nomination process from a Starbucks employee.

“Having an employee of Starbucks, whom we don’t know, recommend us for this grant– just shows that our community always steps up to support us,” Christian said. “Someone was thinking of us and found a way to make a difference.”

The food bank serves more than 140 families every day and is running low on all foods right now, Christian said. The grant will help support the community that the food bank serves and will be put toward providing more groceries to fill the shelves.

Only about 6.3% (2,700 out of 43,000) of nominees were selected to receive a grant. The news definitely surprised Christian.

“[It’s] shocking! We didn’t know that an employee from one of the stores had recommended us so we are very blessed and honored by this,” Christian said. “I love the variety of work, the variety of people, the support from the Auburn community and being able to ‘find a need and fix it.’”