Amidst all the brewhaha over Starbucks un-Christmasy red cups, the corporation quietly announced a major benefit for all their retired veteran employees and their families.

Just in time for Veterans Day: Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks is announcing today that it will now extend a 100% tuition-free four-year college benefit to the spouse or child of every U.S. veteran or active military reservist employed 20 or more hours a week.

This new benefit, whose zero-tuition price point results from a 42-58 partnership between ASU and Starbucks, will be an additional benefit atop the previously-announced college benefit (also four years, 100% tuition free) that Starbucks extends to every employee who works 20 hours per week or more, which is offered through the online campus of Arizona State University (ASU), an accredited (and generally well-respected) institution, in an approach that has been lauded by the leadership of the U.S. Department of Education.

Starbucks has been working steadily to meet the goals for our Veterans that they put forth several years ago, and in many ways the company has not only met, but is exceeding those goals.

What else is Starbucks doing for our Veterans you ask? How about the fact that they will be paying for active duty employees service obligations? Up to 80 hours per year at that. How about the fact that there are over 5,500 Veterans employed by Starbucks now – well ahead of their 2018 goal? In fact, 95% of those hired work on the retail side as either a district manager or a barista. And how about this bit of news?

The company has extended its ambitious Military Family Stores commitment with plans to reach 30 Military Family Stores near U.S. military bases in 2016. Starbucks’ Military Family Stores are run by veterans and military spouses and partner with service and community organizations like Blue Star Families, Team Red, White and Blue, The Mission Continues, USO and others to offer transition services and build connections between military and civilian communities.

Unfortunately, when you peruse Twitter or Facebook, Starbuck’s latest announcement won’t put an end to the whole red cup saga. As Donald Trump gears up to bombastically support a boycott of Starbucks over their lack of Christmas cheer on their red cups…

https://youtu.be/E54DAlBqiFM

Interestingly enough, while Starbucks doesn’t have the word Christmas on their red cups, you can find it elsewhere; in the stores and online.

More than a few people have weighed in on the red cup controversy. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. I know and love the reason for the season as much or more as many others do. And yes, its been a great disappointment to see many stores and individuals decide not to say “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending the special snowflakes out there. However, if we focus soley on the fact that a cup, a cardboard cup, doesn’t have the word Christmas on it we do ourselves a grave disservice. A post on FB made an excellent point about this whole kerfuffle. The writer basically said that Mary and Joseph didn’t get all offended over the fact that the innkeepers didn’t roll out the red carpet for our Savior. In fact, they adjusted. They made do. They, like our Veterans were resilient. They adapted and overcame. Maybe we should as well.

So, while people continue to tie their shorts in a knot over Christmas or the lack thereof on the Starbucks red cups… here is something to think about. Our veterans have served us and kept our country safe many times over, yet sometimes they need a helping hand from individuals and corporations to transition successfully into civilian life.

To heck with the red cups! Starbucks gets a well-deserved kudos for stepping up to honor and serve our Veterans and their families.