Community Service Roundup November 2018: Initiatives by 11 Retailers
By Kristina Hurtig on Nov. 09, 2018CHICAGO -- This community-service roundup features the charitable efforts of 11 convenience-store retailers and one supplier.
Two chains raised funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, another donated to ongoing hurricane relief efforts and others showed their support for veterans, the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the Salvation Army and more.
Click through to read about these initiatives ...
Enmarket
Enmarket, Savannah, Ga., raised more than $128,200 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk, which takes place Nov. 16 in Savannah. For one month each year, Enmarket’s 122 c-stores in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina sell Light the Night paper balloon icons for $1 each in support of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission to cure blood cancer and help patients and their families. Enmarket has raised more than $481,744 for the society since it started the annual fundraiser in 2013.
GPM Investments
In partnership with Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian International Relief organization, Richmond, Va.-based GPM Investments has raised $65,729 to aid in Hurricane Florence disaster relief. More than 1,200 c-stores, including 1-Stop, Admiral, E-Z Mart, Jiffy Stop and Roadrunner Markets, collected donations from customers and employees.
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores
Through a five-week in-store campaign, Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores raised more than $3.4 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH), surpassing the travel chain’s $3 million goal and setting a company record. The campaign ran from Aug. 26 to Sept. 30; Love’s team members sold Miracle Balloon icons for donations and organized events, including 5K runs, bowling tournaments, fishing tournaments, cookouts and more. The chain showed additional support on National Coffee Day, when it discounted 24-ounce coffees and cappuccinos to $1, with all sales going toward CMNH.
NOCO Express
Tonawanda, N.Y.-based NOCO Express recently donated $6,500 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northtowns. The funds, which will support after-school programming for more than 5,000 youth, were raised by employees and vendors who participated in NOCO Express’ annual golf tournament this summer.
NOCO Express also recently donated $14,309 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Western & Central New York Chapter. The money was raised during a September in-store campaign in which customers of its 39 locations could make a $1 donation to the organization.
Parker's
Parker’s sixth annual Fueling the Community Golf Tournament on Oct. 23 in Savannah, Ga., raised more than $140,000 to benefit education, healthcare and other causes in Georgia and South Carolina communities where Parker’s operates c-stores.
On the first Wednesday of each month, the Savannah-based chain also donates 1 cent from the sale of every gallon of gasoline sold at all its locations to schools in Georgia and South Carolina. The company also supports the Parker’s Emergency & Trauma Center at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.
Pilot Flying J
Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot Flying J raised a record-breaking $97,173 for the United Way of Greater Knoxville during the chain’s “Pilot Celebrity Pumpers” fundraiser at Knox County c-stores. From Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, local celebrities, including elected officials, media personalities and University of Tennessee representatives, pumped gas and greeted customers to help Pilot raise funds. Pilot donated 5 cents of every gallon of gas and 10 cents of every dollar spent in-store to the United Way of Greater Knoxville.
This year’s fundraiser bested last year’s record of $94,091.
QMart
During its third annual Charity Classic Golf Tournament in October, QMart raised $146,905 to benefit The Lighthouse of Houston, a nonprofit education and service center dedicated to helping blind and visually impaired people live independently.
“Being woven into the fabric of the community is part of our business model at QMart,” said Fazil Malik, CEO of Houston-based Northwest Petroleum, which owns the QMart c-store chain. “We partnered with The Lighthouse of Houston because the organization is focused on improving the quality of life for a segment of our city’s most vulnerable population.”
Toot'n Totum Food Stores
Toot’n Totum Food Stores, which operates more than 70 c-stores, helped kick-start the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Drive on Oct. 5 in Amarillo, Texas, where the chain is based. Toot’n Totum will match the first $100 at each kettle, KFDA-TV reported.
TravelCenters of America
TravelCenters of America, operator of the TA and Petro Stopping Centers travel-center brands, raised $244,800 for the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund (SCF) during its annual “Band Together for SCF” campaign. The campaign ran from Aug. 15 through Sept. 30 at TA and Petro Stopping Centers nationwide. Customers showed their support by purchasing wristbands, window clings and keychains for $1 and $5.
Wawa
Voting for The Wawa Foundation’s Virginia Hero Awards, which honor Virginia nonprofits that assist others and help advance their communities, will begin Nov. 20 and end Dec. 4. In honor of Wawa’s Virginia “Wawaversary,” marking two decades since the grand opening of the chain’s first store in the state, one Hero Award (a $20,000 grant) and three Runner-Up Awards ($5,000 each) will be given to nonprofits in each of the following markets: Northern Virginia, central Virginia, and the Peninsula and Hampton Roads.
“Since we opened our first store in Virginia, Wawa has made connections with millions of customers across dozens of communities. Our Virginia Hero Awards are a way for us to say thank you to those area nonprofits that do so much for the communities we serve across Virginia,” said Jay Culotta, president of The Wawa Foundation, an extension of Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa.
Yesway
In support of its commitment to the U.S. military and first responders, and in concert with Veterans Day, Yesway has donated $50,000 to Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that serves U.S. military families. The Des Moines, Iowa-based c-store chain also announced it would donate 5 cents from every bottle of Yesway-branded spring and purified water sold (up to $25,000) to the organization.
Yesway also offers free coffee or fountain beverages to active and retired members of the military, as well as first responders, on Fridays in its stores.
Talking Rain Beverage Co.
Together with its loyal consumers and partners, Talking Rain Beverage Co. has continued its commitment to supporting veterans and the fight against breast cancer by collaborating with two organizations: Honor Flight Network and UW Medicine. This year, the Preston, Wash.-based beverage company raised more than $112,000 in support of the Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit organization created to honor America’s veterans by transporting them to Washington, D.C., to visit and reflect at the memorials dedicated to their service.
Talking Rain also recently united with UW Medicine in Seattle to raise funds that will directly support the ongoing development of the breast cancer vaccine at UW Medicine’s Cancer Vaccine Institute. As part of the partnership, Talking Rain presented a check of $50,000 to the UW Medicine Cancer Vaccine Institute in mid-October.
For more than 22 years, Talking Rain has been supporting breast cancer awareness initiatives nationwide, and it donates a minimum of $25,000 annually to research facilities to help find a cure and raise breast cancer awareness.
Have a community-service announcement of your own to share? Send related news to Kristina Peters at kpeters@winsightmedia.com.