Starbucks offering free coffee to frontline workers through December

(NEXSTAR) — Throughout the month of December, Starbucks is offering free coffee to “those keeping our communities safe during COVID-19.”

The company announced that beginning Dec. 1, any customer identifying as a frontline responder to the pandemic will receive a tall brewed coffee — hot or iced — free of charge.

“It has been an extraordinarily difficult year, especially for the front-line responders who are serving our communities,” Virginia Tenpenny, Starbucks vice president, Global Social Impact, said in a release. “We want to show our deep gratitude for those who support and protect us every day with a small gesture of kindness and a cup of coffee.”

The offer is available for doctors, nurses, public health workers, pharmacists, dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, dentists and dental hygienists, mental health workers, hospital staff and active-duty military, the company said.

Starbucks has also donated $100,000 to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to support virtual mental health resources for frontline responders and this holiday season plans to surprise 50,000 responders with care packages and Starbucks gift cards.

Since the start of the pandemic, Starbucks has given away more than 2 million cups of coffee and 300,000 care packages and letters to frontline responders.

The offer of free coffee can be redeemed at Starbucks’ U.S. locations.