Last year, the association coordinated member efforts at the store level and with the annual tournament to raise $190,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which translated to 60 wishes, Jan Vineyard, president of OMEGA, told CSP Daily News.
"So half the money comes from the generosity of our customers, [image-nocss] and ... [the rest] comes from our owners," Vineyard said. "It's a big deal."
In its message to the community on its website, the association said: "Our member businesses are intrinsically linked to our citizenry's quality of life and we take that seriously. Because OMEGA members are so closely tied to the communities in which they are located, we believe it is our responsibility to help out and give back where we can."
The associations fundraising efforts date back to 2003, when OMEGA members gathered to identify how they could pull together to help out in a larger way and on a broader scale.
Having begun in 1966 as the West Virginia Oil Jobbers-Distributors Association, OMEGA was formed with the goal of promoting the interest and welfare of those engaged in the wholesale marketing and distribution of petroleum products in West Virginia. In September 1984, the association changed its name to the West Virginia Petroleum Marketers Association (WVPMA). The motivation for the name change stemmed from the lack of understanding and misunderstanding of the terms "jobber" and "distributor." They felt that the new name clearly stated who the members are and what they do.
In December 1984, the Board of Directors approved the formation of a convenience-store association as a division of the WVPMA. The board felt that because one-third of the members also had convenience stores that this was a good fit for them. The two groups became the West Virginia Petroleum Marketers Association and West Virginia Association of Convenience Stores.
In January 1996, in an effort to increase their strength in numbers, the associations took over the West Virginia Retail Grocers Association, due to the similarities the grocery and convenience-store industries shared. The new association became known as the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association (OMEGA WV).
On October 1, 2006, OMEGA took over management of the West Virginia Motor Truck Association (WVMTA). At that time, Vineyard became the president of both OMEGA and the WVMTA.
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