Community Service Roundup, December 2021
By Rachel Gignac on Dec. 31, 2021CHICAGO — This month’s community service roundup features eight convenience stores and two suppliers.
Featuring GetGo Cafe + Market, Rutter’s, Sheetz and more, see how c-stores gave back during the holidays ...
GetGo Cafe + Market
GetGo Cafe + Market, Pittsburgh, raised $10,000 for the U.S. Marine Corps annual Toys for Tots holiday campaign by donating a portion of all tater tot sales to the campaign. The Marine Corps Toys for Tots gifts new toys to less fortunate children during the holidays. This is the second year that GetGo has participated in donating to the program.
“Our customers responded so enthusiastically to last year’s Tots for Toys for Tots campaign that we knew we had to do it again this year,” said Rug Phatak, chief of staff of GetGo. “We’re proud to partner with our neighbors and the Marine Corps to provide toys and gifts to the children of our communities.”
Stewart's Shops
Stewart’s Shops, Ballston Spa, N.Y., matched $871,000 of customer donations through Dec. 22, doubling to more than $1.7 million. With no administrative fees, 100% of donations go to local nonprofits.
The retailer highlights a different Holiday Match recipient each week from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day in all 354 Stewart’s Shops.
The c-store chain’s Holiday Match program has matched customer donations for the past 35 years, raising more than $32 million in total for local charities.
Pilot Co.
Pilot Co., Knoxville, Tenn., broke a record by raising $1.75 million for the Veterans Day Giving Campaign, the Call of Duty Endowment. The Call of Duty Endowment is a nonprofit that places Veterans into high-quality jobs after their service. The campaign encouraged guests to round up their change at Pilot’s 750 participating travel centers, and Pilot matched $100,000 of the donations.
“We’re proud to support military service members and their families every day with a year-round discount at our stores,” said Shameek Konar, CEO of Pilot. “For Veterans Day, it was important that we do something special to not only thank Veterans, but also support them. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our guests and the hard work of our team members to raise this record-setting amount for the Call of Duty Endowment that will help thousands of Veterans find their next career.”
This record-breaking donation amount exceeds the c-store’s 2021 goal of $500,000 by more than three times. More than 3,000 veterans will be supported in their search for employment.
Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc.
Love’s, Oklahoma City, hosted the second annual Holiday Meals for Military event and partnered with national nonprofit, Operation Homefront, to distribute 125 meal kits to preregistered families. Each kit was filled with essentials for a holiday meal.
Oklahoma City Thunder tickets were included in the kits as a surprise this year. Rumble the Bison and other representatives from the Thunder were there in support of the cause.
This year, 15,000 military families nationwide were provided with meals from Holiday Meals for Military.
Rutter's
Rutter’s, York, Pa., donated $410,000 to organizations supporting the education of children in the communitythrough the Pennsylvania Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.
“Supporting local children’s organizations is something we’re always eager to do at Rutter’s,” said Chris Hartman, director of advertising for Rutter’s. “We recognize the importance of providing local charitable organizations with funding to benefit the education of children in our communities and look forward to doing more in 2022.”
Some of the donations to the 29 charities included:
- $25,000 to York Day Nursery and Kindergarten, providing early childhood education to working families of all income levels.
- $20,000 each to Opportunity House, Montessori Academy of Chambersburg, and United Way of Mifflin-Juniata, supporting families in the community.
- $15,000 to DreamWrights Youth and Family Theater to provide hands-on theater education and arts programming to the community.
- $10,000 to Creative York, giving children in the community free gallery tours and offering hands on art activities, classes and workshops.
- $5,000 each to the York Suburban Education Foundation and Schuylkill YMCA, supporting programs for school-aged children.
Sheetz
Sheetz, Altoona, Pa., raised money through the Sheetz For the Kids campaign for new toys, clothes and other basic needs for underprivileged children in the community.
Sheetz customers participated by adding to donation boxes near the register and including donations with purchases.
The c-store supported 16 children at each of their 639 stores this year, totaling more than 10,000 kids. Last year, a total of $1.8 million was raised during both months of in-store fundraising.
Sheetz also sold Be the Santa hats online, and one dollar of every hat sold supported Sheetz For the Kids.
For the 16th year in a row, Sheetz For the Kids partnered with Make-A-Wish to sponsor one child per Sheetz operating district, totaling 58 granted wishes.
Additionally, Sheetz is partnered with Feeding America and served 6.4 million meals this year.
Wawa
Wawa, Wawa Pa., debuted its newest Community Care Vehicle at a Pennsylvania hospital, equipped to brew and serve up to 500 hot beverages at once, such as coffee and hot chocolate.
Wawa and The Wawa Foundation supported healthcare heroes during Riddle Hospital’s Campus Transformation Project.
“As a company committed to serving its community, the Community Care Vehicle is another way for Wawa to provide support to national charity partners, at community events and serve as a resource during times of crisis,” said Liz Simeone, community care and foundation manager of Wawa.
Parker's Convenience Stores
Parker’s Convenience Stores on St. Simons Island, Ga., presented Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation with a check of $1 million, supporting local causes and nonprofit organizations throughout Glynn, Mcintosh and Appling County.
“We want to increase our level of support for organizations in the community and to be actively engaged,” said Patrick Parker, president of Parker’s, Savannah, Ga. “At Parker’s Convenience Stores, we are 100% committed to giving to local causes and want to raise our level of giving because we’re proud to be based here in Glynn County. We think it’s important to give back to the communities that have supported us over the years.”
Clif Bar
Clif Bar, Emeryville, Calif., partnered with five of its sponsored athletes to highlight and donate to nonprofit organizations that make the outdoors more accessible to all. The Clif Second Responder Fund, which helps communities after natural disasters and hardships like COVID-19, supported the partnership. Through November and December, Clif highlighted each of the five athlete partners and provided information on the nonprofits they are passionate about.
The five athletes and their chosen organizations are:
- Venus Williams, Harlem Junior Tennis Education Program
- Kai Lightner, Climbing for Change
- Tommy Caldwell, Bears Ears Coalition
- Daniel Romanchuk, National Park Service
- Megan Rapinoe, Seattle Inspiring Connections Outdoors
Triscuit
Triscuit, East Hanover, N.J., and the Partnership for Healthier America (PHA) expanded the Good Food for All Program and provided high-quality produce to 1,000 families in Washington, D.C.’s, Ward Eight this holiday season.
Ward Eight is the lowest income ward in Washington and has limited access to fresh food and full-service grocery stores.
Beginning Nov. 22, boxes of high-quality produce were provided weekly, and each box included 50 servings of fruits and vegetables, totaling more than 600,000 servings. Families also received Triscuit crackers and recipes for creating meals by pairing the crackers with fresh fruits and veggies.