OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- Convenience-store retailers across the country and Canada have launched campaigns to aid organizations that include the Canadian Red Cross, the American Diabetes Association and Hope For the Warriors. Here’s a look at those campaigns, as well as efforts at the local level.
- 7-Eleven. In response to the fire and evacuation of residents in Fort McMurray, Alberta, 7-Eleven has made a cash donation of $15,000 to the Canadian Red Cross and pledged to match coin-box donations to a maximum of $35,000. 7-Eleven will conduct the in-store canister fundraising campaign through May 31 in each of its Canadian outlets. The Irving, Texas-based company is also working with law enforcement agencies across the United States to distribute free Slurpee coupons through the community-service program Operation Chill. For the 21st year, law-enforcement officers from participating local police and sheriff's departments can "ticket" youngsters for good deeds, positive activities and acts of kindness. Since the program began in 1995, more than 15 million Operation Chill coupons have been distributed.
- Aloha Petroleum. Honolulu-based Aloha Petroleum, which was a platinum sponsor for Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes on March 19, recently donated $27,797.20 to the American Diabetes Association. The company sold Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes paper pin-ups to customers and set up donation canisters at its Aloha Island Mart convenience stores. Canisters were also set up at select Shell locations.
- Circle K. Also in response to the fire in Canada, Circle K has put in a system at its stores across Maritimes Provinces and Newfoundland that allows customers to make a donation to the Canadian Red Cross with their transaction. Circle K parent company Alimentation Couche-Tard, Laval, Quebec, has announced that it will match all customer donations up to $150,000 (Canadian). Couche-Tard founder and executive chairman of the board Alain Bouchard and his wife, Sandra Bouchard, are also making a $300,000 (Canadian) donation from their private foundation.
- CITGO. Houston-based CITGO and its employees celebrated Earth Day by taking part in environmental protection efforts across the country. CITGO and the Houston Audubon Society hosted a cleanup day at the Edith L. Moore Sanctuary in Houston; the CITGO refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, returned to the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve for the Texas General Land Office Adopt-a-Beach cleanup event; the CITGO Earth Keepers, which provide classroom and outdoor recycling bins to schools at no cost, at the CITGO refinery in Lake Charles, La., expanded its outreach to include schools in Lake Charles; and employees of the refinery in Lemont, Ill., returned to the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area to remove invasive species and replant native seeds and trees.
- Enmarket. As part of the Encourage Health Education program, enmarket, Savannah, Ga., donated $1,000 to The Coastal Georgia Council, Boy Scouts of America—a nonprofit organization that combines educational activities with value-driven projects to mold young men and encourage them to make ethical and moral decisions throughout their future.
- QuickChek. Through June 4, Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based QuickChek will raise funds to help support post-9/11 service members and their families through an in-store donation program. Customers can purchase paper dog tags for $1 at any of the company’s 142 locations to benefit Hope for the Warriors. The company raised $75,000 for Hope for the Warriors over a four-week period in 2014 and $92,000 over six weeks last year.
Please send your community service announcements to Kristina Peters at kpeters@winsightmedia.com.
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