LAVAL, Quebec — Convenience retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. launched a fundraising campaign to support Red Cross teams in Ukraine and will match every customer donation at any of the 2,500 Circle K stores in the Baltics, Scandinavia and Ireland. The company also initiated a campaign for employees worldwide that will add to the $1.5 million already donated by Couche-Tard’s leadership team.
The effort follows the company suspending operations in its 38 c-stores in Russia and implementing plans to safely assist the more than 320 employees in the St. Petersburg, Murmansk and Pskov locations.
Couche-Tard plans to raise more than $2 million, with donations going to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Red Cross teams will be further aided in providing relief for Ukraine, neighboring countries and Ukrainian refugees.
“Since the outbreak of the war, we have received many requests from team members and customers to support the people of Ukraine. Through our ‘You Donate, We Match’ campaign, customers can decide as little or large donation as they want, and Circle K will automatically match their donation. We hope to raise as much funds as possible to support the Red Cross with their tireless work to help the Ukrainian people. I want to thank all our teams and customers for their generosity in launching and supporting this fund-raising campaign,” said Hans-Olav Høidahl, executive vice president of operations in Europe.
Circle K, the primary global brand of Couche-Tard, has a strong presence in the Baltic countries with more than 6,500 team members and over 600 stores located in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Since the outbreak of armed conflict in Ukraine, Circle K teams located in neighboring countries have worked with various partners to support with fuel and essential products for those displaced by the crisis.
“Our hearts go out to all those displaced and suffering from this conflict. Through the generosity of our customers and by collaborating with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, we want to contribute as much as possible to provide relief to the people and communities impacted by this conflict,” said Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Couche-Tard.
- Couche-Tard is No. 2 on CSP’s 2022 Top 40 Update to the 2021 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2022 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard’s 26-country global network includes approximately 9,300 c-stores in North America, with more than 7,100 in the United States under the Circle K and Holiday Stationstores banners in 48 states, and approximately 2,100 in Canada under the Circle K, Mac’s and Couche-Tard banners. It has a worldwide total network of approximately 14,200 stores.
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