Dutch Bros. Coffee gives back to local community
By: Elliot Adams
Dutch Bros. Coffee, a large chain of drive-through coffee stores, has made a name for itself in terms of its fundraising events for local charities and organizations around the Valley.
Dutch Bros. Coffee has over 215 store locations in seven different states, including approximately 15 stores in Arizona. One of those stores is located near Mesa Community College on Alma School Road.
This location, as well as others across the state, provides opportunities for customers to purchase from a diverse menu of drinks while simultaneously donating to the local community.
“That’s just the culture of Dutch Bros., it’s giving back,” said Jim Thompson, franchisee for the Dutch Bros. stores in Arizona. “Have you ever heard of Starbucks donating to anything?”
The company regularly organizes all-day events that donate a portion of its proceeds, usually $1 per drink, to well-known local organizations like the Boys and Girls Club and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
“Dutch Bros. is always trying to give back and help out the local community,” Thompson said. “The company culture is really all about love, we love our customers and we love when they get to participate in things like this so they can give some love back to their local area too.”
The stores also participate in an annual “Buck for Kids Day”, the proceeds from which go towards local non-profit organizations that benefit children in the community.
Dutch Bros. has organized food drives for the United Food Bank in which customers can donate a certain number of food items in exchange for one of their drinks.
Funds have also been raised in coordination with breast cancer awareness, proceeds from which go towards providing breast cancer screenings for uninsured women.
For this event, employees at each location show their support for breast cancer by wearing pink, and for the event benefiting the Phoenix Children’s hospital, workers were serving drinks while wearing scrubs.
“I think many corporate companies should do their part in helping, whether it’s local or worldwide so what I love about Dutch Bros. is how personal; and consistently they give back,” said Heather Traficano, a student at MCC. “It gives customers a chance to help out, even if they don’t know they’re participating in an impactful way.”
A special Dutch Bros. fundraising event that makes an impact larger than the Mesa community occurs on May 2 and is named “Drink One for Dane Day.”
Dane Boersma, the older of the two brothers who founded Dutch Bros. Coffee in their home state of Oregon, passed away in 2009 at the age of 55 from Lou Gherig’s disease.
In order to honor his memory, each May all Dutch Bros. stores donate a day’s worth of revenue to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
According to Thompson, last year’s “Drink One for Dane Day” brought in approximately $300,000 for the MDA and this year’s date hopes to exceed that number.
All Dutch Bros. locations, including the store on Alma School Road, will be participating in this event on May 2.
