Community Service Roundup: Initiatives by 7 Retailers and More (September 2016)
By Kristina Hurtig on Sep. 07, 2016CHICAGO -- Whether it’s taking kids to a ballgame, handing out slushies as a reward or donating to organizations such as The Salvation Army and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, convenience stores continue to give back to the communities they serve. Click through to read more about these charitable efforts, as well as initiatives from a grocery chain and supplier.
Boyett Petroleum
Boyett Petroleum’s Make Dreams Real Endowment Fund has awarded $166,400 to 18 programs serving Stanislaus County in California. The Make Dreams Real Endowment Fund makes it possible for school-aged children to participate in programs that enrich and stimulate their minds and bodies and teach values through service learning.
Modesto, Calif.-based Boyett Petroleum, dba Cruisers and Kwik Serv, has tentatively scheduled its 28th annual Make Dreams Real Endowment Fund Golf Tournament for May 18, 2017. This event raises money to build the endowment fund for future grant awards.
CITGO
Houston-based CITGO took 200 students out to the ballpark for CITGO Day at Wrigley Field as part of the CITGO Lemont Refinery’s 90th anniversary celebration. Each child received a commemorative T-shirt and Cubs dollars for snacks. Ryan Karlin, the 2016 Illinois Goodwill Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), also presented the ceremonial lineup card and play ball announcement in recognition of the 30-year partnership between CITGO and the MDA. The Lemont Refinery has contributed more than $300 million each year to the area’s economy and thousands of volunteer hours supporting local organizations.
CITGO also recently teamed up with Special Olympics Illinois for the World’s Largest Truck Convoy to help raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics’ year-round programs for people with intellectual disabilities. In 2015, 139 trucks took part in the Convoy, raising $43,000 for the athletes of Special Olympics Illinois.
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores
Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops is raising money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Through Sept. 30, more than 390 locations will sell paper balloons for $1, $5 or $20. Stores also will raise money by holding cookouts, bake sales, golf tournaments, 5K races, rummage sales and more. The money raised at each location goes to a local CMN Hospital to help kids in that community.
Love’s also recently donated $25,000 to The Salvation Army to be used toward relief and recovery efforts for those affected by recent flooding along the Louisiana Gulf Coast region.
NOCO Express
NOCO Express customers and employees helped raise $13,743 for the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. In July, donations of $1, $3 or $5 were collected at all 36 NOCO Express stores through a paper T-shirt pin-up campaign. The Tonawanda, N.Y.-based company has donated more than $45,000 in the past three years through this in-store campaign to benefit United Way programs.
Northwest Petroleum
Houston-based Northwest Petroleum LP, dba Q Mart, Shell, Texaco and Chevron, will hold its first Charity Classic Golf Tournament on Sept. 9 in Cypress, Texas. All proceeds will benefit The Lighthouse of Houston, an organization that serves about 11,000 people each year and is dedicated to providing education, recreation and career resources for the blind and visually impaired.
TravelCenters of America
TravelCenters of American and Blue Tiger USA recently donated $105,000 to the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund (SCF). The donation was made possible through proceeds from Blue Tiger Elite headsets sold at TravelCenters locations. Westlake, Ohio-based TravelCenters’ “Band Together for SCF” annual campaigns and other fundraisers have generated more than $1.7 million for the organization.
Turkey Hill
If you stacked up all the slushies Turkey Hill Minit Markets has given away since 2008, it would be more than three times the height of Mount Everest. The Lancaster, Pa.-based chain has given away more than a quarter-million slushies to help schools reward kids for earning good grades and other positive behaviors. Now, as students return to school, elementary and intermediate school students in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana will be greeted with a chance to earn a free frozen slushie as part of Turkey Hill’s annual Kids Cup Program.
United Supermarkets
Lubbock, Texas-based United Supermarkets, dba The United Family, donated $375,000 to 25 United Way affiliates. Proceeds were raised during the 25th annual Jacky Pierce Charity Classic golf tournament and were presented to United Way organizations in West Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth and eastern New Mexico.
Cornelius
Cornelius Inc., a global producer of beverage dispensing systems, and its employees donated 1,800 supply-filled backpacks to Chicago’s Marquardt District 15 (valued at $37,500) and a total of $7,656 to seven charities. The donations were a part of the Chicago company’s annual Spirit Day. The day is spent competing in activities such as obstacle courses, model car races and backpack-filling relay races, all to raise money for the community.
Have a community-service announcement of your own to share? Send related news to Kristina Peters at kpeters@winsightmedia.com.