GLASTONBURY, Conn. -- It may be nearly spring, but L.E. Belcher stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts are still basking in a holiday glow. Over the course of five weeks in November and December, L.E. Belcher store locations decked their walls, windows, counters and any other available space with holiday-themed stocking mobiles purchased by their customers, raising more than $22,000 in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's (MDA) campaign to cure muscle-wasting diseases.
The Springfield, Mass.-based L.E. Belcher Inc. is a longtime supporter of MDA. The amount raised this winter [image-nocss] is more than three times the $6,100 that was generated in the same campaign the previous year. The company's director of retail operations, Nathan Deyo, credits L.E. Belcher's frontline employees for the sizeable increase.
"The team at L.E. Belcher Inc. is proud of the outstanding effort our dedicated frontline team members demonstrated in achieving this goal," he said. "This year, we more than tripled the money raised over last year's holiday drive. We are thankful of their efforts, and most importantly, the support of our customers and their extreme generosity."
L.E. Belcher was recognized for its achievement at a recent gathering of CITGO marketers. Deyo and the company's manager of retail operations, Paul Morrissey, were presented with a Silver Award from a representative of the local MDA chapter as a token of appreciation for their efforts.
L.E. Belcher also participates in MDA's well-known Shamrocks Against Dystrophy campaign, selling mobiles in the shape of shamrocks that customers purchase and sign. The shamrocks are then displayed throughout the store during the St. Patrick's Day season. In 2010, the company's MDA Shamrocks program raised $14,984. L.E. Belcher has just completed its 2011 Shamrocks campaign. The program results are not yet available; however, the company is striving to beat last year's total.
Funds raised through MDA's mobile campaigns help fuel the association's worldwide research program and national network of more than 200 hospital-affiliated clinics, including those at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Conn., and Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn.
Shamrock and stocking sales also help send area children with neuromuscular diseases to a fun-filled week of MDA summer camp at Camp Hemlock in Hebron, Conn. For most of these children, camp is their only barrier-free experience.
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health-care and support services, advocacy and education. The majority of contributions to MDA come from individual donors.
L.E. Belcher, Glastonbury, Mass., is a family-owned, full-service energy provider of wholesale petroleum products, including heating oil, branded and unbranded gasoline, as well as convenience offerings through their retail chain of convenience stores. The company originated in western Massachusetts over 80 years ago and has expanded to Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
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