[Pictured: Saugerties Town Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel and Quick Chek Store Leader Lynn Rhinesmith cut the green ribbon marking the grand opening of Quick Chek's newest store in Saugerties, N.Y., as president [image-nocss] and CEO Dean Durling (left of Helsmoortel and Rhinesmith), senior category manager Bill Tencza (right of Helsmoortel and Rhinesmith) and store employees assist.]
Other retailers have recently announced charity and community service activities that have not previously been reported in CSP Daily News:
Swallow Oil
On May 29, Swallow Oil, Rifle, Colo., will be donating five cents of each gallon of gasoline sold at their five stores to benefit Relay for Life, a fundraiser for cancer research, said The Citizen Telegram. Participating businesses are the Phillips 66 station in Parachute; the Red River Inn in Rifle; the Corner Store in Rifle; the Shell station in Rifle; and Book Cliff in Rifle.
Rutter's
York, Pa.-based Rutter's Farm Stores recently presented a check for $1,000 to New Life for Girls, a nonprofit Christian residential rehabilitation program for troubled girls and women. The funds will support the organization's summer youth program.
Minit Mart
Bowling Green, Ky.-based Minit Mart recently raised $17,273 for MDA through Shamrock sales.
Cumberland Farms
Graduating high school seniors from across Cumberland Farms' 11 state service area have been awarded Cumberland Farms Believe & Achieve Scholarships of $1,000 towards their college expenses, the Framingham, Mass.-based retailer said.
This is the third year that Cumberland Farms awarded the scholarships to promising students. As part of the company's Corporate Giving Initiative, the scholarship is open to students entering college and who live within 30 miles of any Cumberland Farms outlet in the Northeast and Florida. While the initiative takes academic performance into account, the award also considers the student's financial need.
"We are proud that our Believe and Achieve program can support 130 college-bound students, which will help defray the cost of tuition or ease the costs for books," said Cumberland Farms president Ari Haseotes.
Speedway
Speedway employees in Chillicothe, Ohio, recently pitched in to help the Children's Miracle Network (CMN) with a hoedown event, reported The Chillicothe Gazette. Proceeds from cookout sales benefitted the network, which aids families and children being cared for at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. Employees also pumped gasoline and wiped windshields for a small donation to the charity. Speedway District Manager Ron Mays said Speedway often partners with CMN to help raise funds for the charity. He said all money raised at Chillicothe events stays in the community.
The Store
As part of a companywide campaign executed by Stevens Point, Wis.-based Team Schierl Co., owners of The Store chain of c-store/gas stations, each of the 21 locations participated in raising money for their local animal shelters, said The Daily Press.
"Schierl as part of its mission of giving back to the community, selects a charity every year," said Escanaba, Mich., store leader Cheryl Crout. "Since every community has an animal shelter or Humane Society, the company decided to sell dog bones." Customers were asked if they would like to purchase a paper dog bone for $1. That location raised $2,000.
Companywide, Schierl Teams raised more than $19,000.Circle KOn April 27-28, Circle K hosted its annual Red Rock Classic Golf Tournament in Sedona, Ariz., benefitting United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Central Arizona. The event raised more than $70,000 for UCP's programs and services. This two-day event brought various Circle K vendors and business partners together on UCP's behalf. These proceeds were above and beyond the funds raised by Circle K for UCP throughout their in-store canister displays. In 2008, it raised more than $2.6 million through the in-store collections by Circle K personnel. At the current rate, 2009 collections are expected to exceed the 2008 collection totals. Locally and nationally, Circle K has remained the largest corporate sponsor for the organization.
And in other charity news, RetailROI (the Retail Orphan Initiative), aimed at raising awareness of adoption issues and helping provide lasting solutions for vulnerable children worldwide, has announced the selection of four deserving organizations to receive the charity's initial grants. One of the organizations' founding goals is to focus grant efforts on groups doing effective and innovative work in the area of orphan care and adoption.
The organizations receiving the first RetailROI grants include: 4 KIDS of South Florida: Provides licensed foster homes, family-style residences and adoption support for foster kids in Florida.www.4kidsofsfl.org LifeSong for Orphans: Offers no-interest loans and grants to couples who wish to adopt.http://www.lifesongforphans.org Share the Blessings: Provides education and clean water projects throughout Uganda.www.share-the-blessings.org Warm Blankets Orphan Care International: Restores the lives of orphans in partnership with churches, corporations, organizations and individuals who have a passion to help needy, parentless children. www.warmblankets.org "We are humbled to be able to make these first four gifts in such a short time, gifts that we know will save lives through the innovative work of these organizations." said Greg Buzek, founder and president, IHL Group and co-founder of RetailROI. "There are 143 million orphans and 400 million vulnerable children in the world. With ongoing support from the retail community, RetailROI can continue giving funds to important organizations like these who are on the front lines in care for orphans and adoption."
"As a retailer who is also privileged to be involved with Share the Blessings, I know these first donations will have a big impact," said Ed Collupy, vice president of information technology for The Pantry Inc., Sanford, N.C. "I encourage others in the retail community to get behind the work of RetailROI. Working together, we can begin to make a huge difference."
RetailROIrecently launched its website, www.retailROI.org. Created under the umbrella of The Giving Back Fund, RetailROI provides grants to charities that provide hands-on efforts in the following areas: orphan care (food, shelter, medical, clothing, education); foster care support organizations; adoption support organizations; grants and zero-interest loans for adoption; child rescue from human trafficking; and life skills training for orphaned and vulnerable children.
RetailROI has grown out of the work that Paul Singer, former senior vice president and CIO of SUPERVALU, has done in support of orphans. It solicits donations from retailers, vendors and employees; however, its long-term goal is to create programs such as "RoundUp for Orphans" at the point of sale, in which customers can round up their transactions to the nearest dollar to support the fund, or custom multi-retailer gift cards that would dedicate a portion of the sales to RetailROI.
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