Jamba Juice kicks off school fundraiserJamba Juice kicks off school fundraiser

Alan J. Liddle

EMERYVILLE Calif. Jamba Juice on Monday launched a six-week School Bananananza fundraising campaign in which adopted educational institutions receive 20 percent of the proceeds from sales to supporters.

Managers at participating stores within the 729-unit chain will select a different beneficiary school each week for six weeks, Jamba Inc. said. Sales will be credited to the selected schools when supporters show a flier identifying the beneficiary at the time of purchase.

In conjunction with the promotion, the chain’s mascot, Bananaman, in his Bananavan, will visit schools and other community gatherings nationwide. Jamba said Bananaman would pass out school fliers, smoothies, coupons and summer-hire applications, as the chain estimates it will need to fill about 4,000 seasonal positions.

“The School Bananananza ’09 is Jamba’s way of involving schools across the country, with the goal to raise dollars for programs where funds may be lacking,” said James White, Jamba's chief executive. “We work hard to promote a healthy, active, give-back-to-the-community lifestyle, and that’s what the Bananananza is really all about.”

The launch of School Bananananza ’09 comes as the Jamba Juice chain struggles with declining same-store sales. For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 30, Jamba Inc. said same-store sales at corporate locations fell 12.0 percent, compared with the same period a year earlier. For the full year, the company said same-store sales were down by 8.1 percent.

Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].