Community Service Roundup, September 2021
By Hannah Hammond on Oct. 20, 2021CHICAGO — This month’s community service roundup features efforts by nine convenience-store chains, two suppliers and a c-store association. From Weigel’s to Stripes to Maverik, see what c-stores did in September to give back.
Wawa
Wawa, Wawa, Pa., and The Wawa Foundation are supporting the disaster relief efforts of the American Red Cross to provide aid to communities ravaged by Hurricane Ida and its aftermath. The foundation gave a $100,000 grant to the Red Cross Hurricane Ida Disaster Relief Fund to provide support for its efforts to assist impacted communities from Louisiana to the Mid-Atlantic region where Wawa operates.
Wawa stores and its community-care services also provided in-kind support to the Red Cross as it provided shelters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to offer comfort, assistance and meals to those affected by flooding.
Weigel's
Weigel’s Stores Inc., Powell, Tenn., gave Street Hope TN a $10,000 check as part of the nonprofit’s annual fundraising campaign. Street Hope TN, Powell, Tenn., works to eliminate sexual exploitation and trafficking of children in Tennessee while providing safe environments to foster hope and healing.
The sponsorship donation was presented by Kurt Weigel, human resources for Weigel’s, and Meg Weigel Kwasigroch, Kurt’s sister. Devin Payne, executive director of Street Hope TN, accepted the donation on the organization’s behalf.
“By partnering with our ministry, Weigel’s is taking an active role in helping protect children in our community as we expand our awareness and prevention programming to train more individuals to identify and report child sex trafficking and to educate more children in order to prevent exploitation from ever happening,” Payne said. “In addition, they are helping us open the first long-term, holistic care safe home in Tennessee for child survivors of sex trafficking.”
The campaign’s goal was to raise $250,000, which would provide funding for the first two years of programming when the new safe home opens.
EG Group
EG Group and its more than 1,700 c-stores in the United States held a fundraising campaign with United Way throughout September and into early October. The donations raised will help drive funding for youth development and educational resources across the communities in which EG operates. The c-store brands that participated in the fundraiser included Cumberland Farms, Certified Oil, Fastrac, Kwik Shop, Loaf ‘N Jug, Minit Mart, Quik Stop, Tom Thumb and Turkey Hill.
Customers were able to donated a dollar amount of their choosing to a local United Way chapter at checkout.
EG America, Westborough, Mass., is the subsidiary of U.K.’s EG Group, which made its entrance into the United States in 2018.
Stripes
Stripes Stores at 7-Eleven Inc., Irving, Texas, held its seventh annual MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital fundraising campaign in September to benefit the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as part of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.
Stripes customers could donate by purchasing a $1 MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital paper pin-up while checking out at participating stores. For participating, customers who donated received a coupon for $1 off two Lifewtr 1-liter bottles.
Since 2017, Stripes Stores at 7-Eleven has raised more than $5.8 million for the hospital. Funds raised from this year’s campaign will support MD Anderson’s Pediatric Education and Creative Arts program and new pediatric cancer research.
Maverik
Maverik, Salt Lake City, Utah, raised $255,348 for Feeding America this summer after customers rounded up their cash transactions to the nearest dollar at Maverik stores across 11 states.
The funds donated are in addition to the $180,767 donation Maverik made in February from its last round up campaign, and its direct donation in January of $150,000.
“We activated a second Round Up campaign this year to help support millions of our neighbors still struggling with hunger due to the pandemic,” said Chuck Maggelet, president and chief adventure guide of Maverik. “We’re overwhelmed and thankful to our customers for sparing their change to help fight this battle together.”
Ninety percent of customer donations were raised locally and will stay local, Maverik said. The company’s donation will be distributed to 15 Feeding America member food banks across 11 western states where Maverik operates. Remaining money will support Feeding America’s national strategies to help fight hunger in the United States.
Smoker Friendly
The Cigarette Store Corp., doing business as Smoker Friendly, participated in two campaigns during July and August to raise money to help find a cure for juvenile diabetes. The July campaign was a round-up-at-the-register campaign, and the August one was a silent auction and a short live auction to support the cause at the annual Smoker Friendly Tobacco Festival and Conference.
The Boulder, Colo.-based chain has 181 retail locations including c-stores, tobacco stores and premium cigar lounges.
The Wills Group
The Wills Group, which operates Dash In c-stores, raised more than $200,000 at its fifth annual Blackie Wills Golf Classic event in support of the Blackie Wills Community Leadership Fund.
The fund is a component of the Wills Group’s community engagement efforts, focused on helping to end childhood hunger and enhance outdoor spaces across the mid-Atlantic region. Since March 2020, The Wills Group, La Plata, Md., donated more than $1 million through the Blackie Wills Community Leadership Fund to support regional and local foodbanks and nonprofit organizations as they address increased hunger as a result of COVID-19.
“COVID-19 continues to have a significant and ongoing impact on our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Julian B. (Blackie) Wills III, president and COO of the Wills Group. “As a result, this past year, the Wills Group significantly increased our support of families in need. However, we know that we can do more. As a result of the support of everyone who participated in this year’s Blackie Wills Golf Classic, we can.”
CEFCO Convenience Stores
CEFCO, Temple, Texas, has started its annual Miracle Balloon fundraising campaign benefitting Baylor Scott and White McLane Children’s Medical Center and 15 other Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) hospitals in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida.
Customers can donate at CEFCO stores by purchasing a $1, $3 or $5 Miracle Balloon. There is also a canister to collect change at each register to collect funds for CMN and some stores will hold their own raffles to raise extra money.
The campaign runs through Nov. 16.
Since 1999, CEFCO has been helping children by raising more than $5 million for CMN hospitals.
Jarritos
Jarritos celebrated Latinx Heritage Month in September by honoring and recognizing three recipients of its new Flavored by Culture Fund. The grant will financially support lunch truck owners and entrepreneurs’ business goals and educational endeavors.
“We are honored to recognize lunch truck owners who continue to serve authentic food in their communities,” said Eric Delamare, marketing director for Jarritos. “Our goal is to share our Mexican heritage, culture and traditions with others while supporting the hardest working community members that exemplify this mission and are engaged in their communities.”
The Mexican soft drink brand based in El Paso, Texas, gave the grant to the following recipients to support their businesses:
- Elia Ariza: Lupita’s Roasted Corn, Houston, Texas
- Juan Rojas: Lonchera de Rojas, Vista, Calif.
- Eric Ortiz: Tiki Chili, Maple Lake, Minn.
The fund will give each recipient $5,000 to apply toward their business pursuits.
Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama
The Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama (PCMA) partnered with In Our Backyard, a national nonprofit that helps fight human trafficking. Through the partnership, PCMA and In Our Backyard have created a simple process for retailers to sign up stores for the Convenience Stores Against Trafficking (CSAT) program. The no-cost program involves receiving materials that will assist retailers in training their employees to recognize the signs of human trafficking, safely report it and confidently reach out to victims, according to In Our Backyard.
The packet will include indicator sheets that provide an overview of human trafficking indicators, freedom stickers with information for a victim on how they can text or call for help and a six-minute training video for employees to watch.
To sign up a store, visit inourbackyard.org/csat-registration/.
Performance Food Group
Performance Food Group (PFG), Richmond, Va., donated $25,000 to World Central Kitchen (WCK), adding to a $50,000 donation it made earlier this year.
World Central Kitchen is a nonprofit that uses food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. PFG provided additional support at this time to better enable the organization to respond to communities dealing with devastation from recent hurricanes.
“We continue to be inspired by the mission of WCK and are pleased to make this donation to support their efforts,” said PFG Chairman, President and CEO George Holm. “Every day, as we serve our customers and they serve their neighbors, we see the critical role food plays in building strong communities. At times of crisis, it’s even more important. We are proud to provide this extra financial support when it is needed most, as well as continue to offer our distribution expertise to assist WCK with delivery of food and other supplies.”