Community Service Roundup: Initiatives by 6 Retailers (March 2017)
By Kristina Hurtig on Mar. 09, 2017CHICAGO -- This community-service roundup features convenience-store retailers, as well as a trade association, handing out scholarships, donating to food banks, helping restore a museum and more.
Click through to read about these efforts …
Aloha Petroleum
Aloha Petroleum, Honolulu, donated $6,649.64 to the Hawaii Foodbank. The funds were raised in November and December through the ongoing canister collection program at statewide participating Aloha Island Mart stores. Last year, the Hawaii Foodbank distributed more than 12.8 million pounds of food in Oahu and Kauai, assisting approximately 287,000 islanders.
CITGO
Through a multiyear sponsorship agreement with the Boston Athletic Association, Houston-based CITGO Petroleum Corp. is the official fuel sponsor of the Boston Marathon, which will take place April 17. CITGO will be the presenting sponsor of the digital campaign “The Road to Boston,” which provides year-long event information to participants of the Boston Marathon.
In addition, CITGO branding will be located outside the Athletes’ Village in Hopkinton, Ma., and at the “One Mile to Go” mark of the Boston Marathon. New this year, a CITGO cheer zone will be located at mile 25.2 beneath the iconic CITGO sign landmark.
Kum & Go
Kum & Go and the Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado are partnering on a food rescue pilot program. The West Des Moines, Iowa-based c-store retailer will donate prepared excess food, such as breakfast and lunch sandwiches, salads and bakery items, to Care and Share for distribution to their partner agencies.
The program will begin at Kum & Go’s latest Colorado Springs store (2422 Research Parkway), and will eventually expand to Kum & Go stores throughout the city by year-end.
Parker’s
Savannah, Ga.-based Parker’s partnered with WSAV-TV to award a $500 academic scholarship to Madeline Prince, a senior at Hilton Head Island High School in Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Collins Sherrill, a senior at Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Ga.
Parker’s and WSAV will identify a Georgia or South Carolina low country high school junior or senior to receive a $500 scholarship each month during the academic school year. Recipients will be automatically entered for the chance to win an additional $1,000 academic scholarship, along with other monthly Outstanding Student Scholarship winners.
Ricker’s
Jay and Nancy Ricker, founders of Ricker’s, a c-store chain based in Anderson, Ind., donated $500,000 to the museum at Conner Prairie, an interactive history park in Fishers, Ind. The gift will help restore the museum’s Chinese House, which is undergoing a $1.4 million restoration in 2018.
Jay Ricker is chairman of the board of directors for Conner Prairie. He joined the board in 2011, has served as chairman of the development committee and has been a member on various board committees. He also serves on the museum’s foundation board.
VERC Enterprises
VERC Enterprises gave two $500 grants to Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton, Ma. The grants were made possible through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program, which is designed to provide local retailers an opportunity to invest in the future of their communities through educational grants to neighborhood schools.
Duxbury, Ma.-based VERC also gave $500 each to Hedge Elementary School and Cold Spring Elementary School in Plymouth, Ma.; Fiske Elementary School in Lexington, Ma.; The Gifford School in Weston, Ma.; and Raymond J. Grey Junior High School in Acton, Ma.
NATSO Foundation
Through the Bill Moon Scholarship Program, the NATSO Foundation, Alexandria, Va., awarded five students with ties to the truckstop and travel plaza industry $5,000 each to put toward their studies.
The 2016 recipients were Kelly Bolton, an employee at Muralt’s Ambest Travel Plaza in Misoula, Mont.; Carianne Jones, an employee at TravelCenters of America in DeMotte, Ind.; Daryll Marie Carlson, the maintenance manager at the Sacramento 49er Travel Plaza in Sacramento, Calif.; Leianna McIntire, an employee at TravelCenters of America in Willington, Conn.; and Rebecca Sistad, an employee at the Coffee Cup Travel Plaza in Vermillion, S.D.
The NATSO Foundation is now accepting applications for 2017. Applications must be submitted by May 15. The scholarships are open to truckstop and travel plaza owners and operators, their employees and their legal dependents.
Have a community-service announcement of your own to share? Send related news to Kristina Peters at kpeters@winsightmedia.com.