Photo by: Photo by Jesus Corral

Last Thursday, a new Starbucks opened its doors on Evans Avenue and Franklin Street west of the campus.

The Seattle-based coffee franchise held a grand opening on Thursday from 4-7 p.m., during which hours all proceeds were donated to The Bridge Project, a venture designed to service the communities of the Denver metro area.

The Bridge Project began in 1991 with an initiative by former Chancellor Dan Ritchie who saw a need within Denver for positive social action, and strives to “provide educational, social and career opportunities to individuals living in Denver public housing developments and the surrounding areas.”

The Bridge Project is primarily concerned with using the resources available at the University of Denver to serve high school students and families in public housing developments, based on the data that as many as 90 percent of students living in such developments do not graduate high school.

At the programs outset, Ritchie stressed the importance of using the “collective talents” of the university so that DU could be “a great private university dedicated to serving the public good.”

The new Starbucks will be competing with local favorite Kaladi Brothers Coffee, located directly across the street.

Kaladi Brothers Coffee is a coffee company started in Anchorage, Alaska, expanding to 10 stores in Alaska, with only several outside of the state, and one in the Denver Area, thats on Evans Avenue and Franklin Street.

The company prides itself on local flavor and good coffee, as one of the only coffee chains serving exclusively fair trade coffee. Another Starbucks operates on University Boulevard and Asbury Avenue.