Community Service Roundup: Initiatives by 6 Retailers (October 2017)
By Kristina Hurtig on Oct. 10, 2017CHICAGO -- This community-service roundup features six convenience-store retailers and four suppliers giving back to their communities by donating a year’s worth of gas, raising funds and awareness for Children’s Miracle Network, providing water for victims of hurricanes and an earthquake, and more.
Click through to read about these efforts ...
Aloha Petroleum
Aloha Petroleum, Honolulu, donated $8,314.67 to the Boys & Girls Clubs in Hawaii to support the organization’s mission to inspire young people to become responsible citizens. The funds were raised through the company’s ongoing canister collection program at statewide participating Aloha Island Mart stores.
BJ’s Gas
To celebrate the new BJ’s Gas location in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., BJ’s Wholesale Club donated a year’s supply of gas (valued at $5,000) to the Food Bank for Westchester. The donation will help the food bank distribute more than 7.4 million pounds of fresh foods to underserved communities. Westborough, Mass.-based BJ’s operates 215 club stores and 133 BJ’s Gas locations in 16 states.
Fastrac Markets
Upon opening its 50th convenience store, Fastrac Markets donated $35,000 to the Rochester Habitat for Humanity. The new store, a Fastrac Cafe, opened in Chili, N.Y., on Sept. 7. Fastrac is based in East Syracuse, N.Y.
Kwik Trip
La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip raised $75,000 during its 2017 coin-canister campaign in support of the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which is committed to providing healthier food and snack choices to consumers. In June, all 570 Kwik Trip locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa encouraged guests to support PHA by placing canisters at every checkout lane.
The campaign has raised $255,000 since 2014, when Kwik Trip first teamed up with PHA. The retailer has made a number of advancements to make healthier choices even more convenient and accessible through its EatSmart program, as well as becoming the first convenience store to offer a PHA-approved combo meal.
Pride Station & Store
Bob Bolduc, owner of the Pride Station & Store in Chicopee, Mass., where a $758.7 million Powerball jackpot was sold in late August, said he plans to donate all the money the store receives from the lottery to local charities, Boston.com reported. The shop is expected to receive $50,000 from the state lottery for selling the winning ticket.
Speedway
Enon, Ohio-based Speedway raised nearly $2.5 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals during its 26th annual Speedway Miracle Tournament. The two-day golf event featured 31 Speedway Miracle Children who benefit from donations to the hospitals the event supports; a celebration dinner, including a medals ceremony for the kids; and a Miracle Child Art Auction that raised more than $37,000.
Speedway also donated $250,000 to charitable organizations in Florida to assist with recovery from Hurricane Irma. The $250,000 Speedway donation will be divided among the following organizations:
- $120,000 to Volunteer Florida
- $75,000 to United Way of Collier County
- $25,000 to United Way of Miami Dade
- $30,000 to local charities in Jacksonville, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale
Alto-Shaam
Alto-Shaam, a foodservice-equipment manufacturer, is donating $135,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Wisconsin chapter following its ninth annual Jerry Maahs Memorial Golf Outing, which was held Aug. 12, at the Ironwood Golf Course in Sussex, Wis. Each year, the event brings together employees and partners to honor Alto-Shaam founder Jerry Maahs, who died from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006.
The Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based manufacturer has raised more than $620,000 for cancer research since the event began.
Antunes
Antunes, a family-owned and -operated company specializing in the manufacturing of foodservice equipment, raised $68,000 for its corporate charity partner Splash through the company’s annual golf outing in August at St. Andrew’s Golf & Country Club in West Chicago, Ill.
Over the years, the Carol Stream, Ill.-based manufacturer has raised a total of more than $215,000 for Splash, a nonprofit organization that brings clean water to children throughout the world.
McLane Co.
Temple, Texas-based McLane Co., which provides supply-chain solutions for grocery and foodservice, announced its control-label subsidiary, Consumer Value Products (CVP), is teaming up with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to raise awareness and funds for the organization.
CVP will donate 1 cent for every unit of CVP Health unit-dose medications sold and 1 cent for every case of YumBees candy sold. Also, products will feature the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital logo on all YumBees candy and unit-dose product packaging.
Niagara Bottling
Ontario, Calif.-based Niagara Bottling donated $1 million to help victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and the recent Mexico City earthquake. The company, which operates bottling facilities in the United States and Mexico, also donated millions of bottles of water in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Mexico City.
The $1 million relief donation is the largest since Niagara established its charitable arm, Niagara Cares, in 2014.
Have a community-service announcement of your own to share? Send related news to Kristina Peters at kpeters@winsightmedia.com.