Standing in line at Starbucks during the holidays is an experience. The festive cups, the aroma of peppermint mochas, and the general merriment of sleep deprived individuals awaiting their life blood is a fun sight to see. And it’s always packed. As I stood in the line at my University Starbucks, I couldn’t help but think about all the kids standing in line, and how much we must spend on coffee (or whatever your drink of choice is!) every day, month, year, etc.

I decided to look it up because that’s obviously a better use of my time than writing my final term paper. According to USA TODAY, the average person spends about $2.00 +/- on Starbucks coffee a day (and that’s just for one drink). That means, you could be spending $60 per month, and approx. $750 a year on coffee. Now, that’s not to make you cringe, everyone needs their pick me up.

But…. What if everyone put away half of their coffee money, and used it for a different cause. Let’s say for example, you started getting coffee every other day. If you put away that $30 you would have been spending on coffee in a month, you’re $30 richer. Good for you! For the year, you saved an extra $375.

Okay stay with me. There are about 500 people that roll through an average Starbucks every day. Starbucks has 13,930 locations internationally. Bet you didn’t think you’d be signing up for math when you started reading this. That makes a total of just shy of 7 million people who get Starbucks every day.

Do you see where I’m going with this yet?

If all 7 million of those people who went to Starbucks put away half of the money they would have spent that year on coffee ($375 +/-) and donated it to charity, we could raise an additional $2 billion A YEAR for charitable causes/medical research all around the world!!! And all for a cup o’ joe.

SO. In the spirit of the holiday season, I challenge you to start putting away half of your coffee funds and donating them to the cause of your choice. If everyone started doing this, maybe we could really make a difference!

#TheStarbucksChallenge