Community Services Roundup, August 2020
By Hannah Hammond on Aug. 26, 2020CHICAGO — This month’s community service roundup includes the work of five convenience stores and three suppliers.
Click through to see the charitable work and donations made by these c-stores and manufacturers …
Rutter’s
Rutter’s, York, Pa., raised more than $375,000 at its 18th Annual Children’s Charities Golf Outing. The two-day golf outing since its inception has raised $2.5 million for local children’s charities in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.
Donations included:
- $100,000 to UPMC Memorial Hospital
- $50,000 to Rutter’s Secret Santa program
- $20,000 to the Children’s Cancer Recover Foundation
- $20,000 to the Adams Country SPCA
- $10,000 to the Salvation Army
Pilot
Pilot Co., Knoxville, Tenn., started an in-store round-up campaign to support Habitat for Humanity. Customers can round up their purchase to the nearest whole dollar at Pilot and Flying J locations. All of the proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity and their mission to help families build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter, according to the company.
Thorntons
Thorntons LLC, Louisville, Ky., is distributing $200,000 to help feed the communities where its team members and customers live and work. Money was raised through the sale of a limited-edition 24-ounce coffee and distributed among 22 local hunger organizations.
Customers can also round up their purchases to the nearest dollar at Thorntons’ c-stores to go to the store’s local hunger relief partner.
Thorntons is a long-standing food donation partner of Louisville-based Kentucky Harvest, having donated more than 1 million pounds of surplus food in total, the company said. Early this year, the chain also partnered with Feeding America to launch a company-wide program to further support hunger relief in its communities.
Enmarket
Enmarket, Savannah, Ga., along with a coalition of local businesses, is donating 51,000 reusable 20-ounce translucent water bottles to students returning to Savannah-Chatham and Effingham County public schools. The effort is intended to help ensure a safe experience for students because state guidelines recommend schools turn off school water fountains during the COVID-19 pandemic, the c-store chain said.
Enmarket is the project’s principal sponsor, providing 32,000 water bottles to Savannah-Chatham students and 14,000 to Effingham students.
Casey’s General Stores
Casey’s General Stores Inc., Ankeny, Iowa, is supporting its community following an Aug. 10 derecho that devastated Cedar Rapids. Casey’s donated 19,500 bottles of water to the American Red Cross stationed in Cedar Rapids. The chain also sent water and snacks to American Red Cross of Central Iowa for volunteers and those they serve in the Cedar Rapids community.
Casey’s is also donating $10,000 to two local food banks in eastern Iowa and central Illinois to support neighbors impacted by the storm. It will also launch an in-store fundraising campaign starting Sept. 8 to benefit Feeding America and 58 local foods banks across the Midwest during Hunger Action Month.
Casey’s also provided 2,000 slices of pizza to say thanks to frontline energy workers that came to support Alliant Energy’s recovery work in Iowa.
Hershey
Hershey’s milk chocolate, Jet-Puffed marshmallows and Honey Maid graham crackers launched S’mores Gives Back—the search for the most creative and delicious S’mores creation at local, independent restaurants.
Restaurants had until Aug. 24 to post a picture or short video to Instagram or Twitter showcasing their most creative S’mores recipe made with, at a minimum, the ingredients listed above.
Winners from S’mores Give Back will be rewarded with one of five $10,000 prizes as a token of the brands’ appreciation for the important role the restaurants play in neighborhoods around the country, according to the Hershey, Pa.-based company.
Van’s Kitchen
Van’s Kitchen, Dallas, has donated more than 90,000 egg rolls, or 45,000 meals, to local food banks in northern Texas every month amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from monthly food bank donations, Van’s Kitchen also hand delivered care packaged of egg rolls to local fire stations to thank them for their work during the pandemic.
Van’s Kitchen is the flagship brand of VAN Oriental Food, a woman- and minority-owned egg roll manufacturer that supplies thousands of supermarkets and hundreds of c-stores nationwide.
Kraft Heinz
Capri Sun is donating 5 million filtered water pouches to schools in the Chicago area and Granite City, Ill.
Water fountains at schools are off limits amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Capri Sun is switching its juice for filtered water to help students have a safe and fun way to get water this school year, the brand, owned by Chicago-based Kraft Heinz, said.
The water pouches include a written apology that reads: “We’re sorry it’s not juice.” The water pouches are not available for purchase.