Community Service Spotlight
NATIONAL REPORT -- Giving back through community service efforts and charity donations is a positive force that keeps many retailers and suppliers of this industry moving ahead. On a regular basis, Convenience Store News will highlight these philanthropic efforts in this special section. Here are the latest company spotlights:
Rutter's Farm Store
Rutter's made donations to seven Central Pennsylvania charities totaling $172,000, bringing the company's year-to-date contributions to local charities to $412,000.
The YMCA of York, the YWCA of York, York Day Nursery, Hanover YWCA, Hanover YMCA, Easter Seals of Central PA and the Jewish Community Center of York will all receive donations to continue their work, especially their work with children, in the communities they serve. The majority of the monies will be used to pay for need-based scholarships for children to attend early learning centers.
Love's Travel Stops
Love's Travel Stops raised more than $1.5 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals across the country. The company set a new fundraising record during this year's five-week campaign.
More than 290 Love's locations nationwide contributed by selling paper donation hearts in the amounts of $1, $5, and $20. Many Love's stores also organized local events to raise money including bake sales, car washes, golf tournaments, motorcycle rallies, and grand prize raffles.
Through the Children's Miracle Network Hospital program, all money raised at each Love's location supports the nearest Children's Miracle Network Hospital. This is Love's 14th year supporting Children's Miracle Network Hospitals; the company has donated more than $7 million in total.
Chevron
For every fuel purchase of at least eight gallons at Harris County (Houston, Texas) Chevron and Texaco stations this month, Chevron will donate $1 -- up to a total $1 million -- to Harris County schools as part of the Fuel Your School program.
The program partners with donorschoose.org, a "citizen philanthropy" website on which teachers from around the country post projects they'd like to accomplish during the school year.
Through the website, community members can then donate however much money they'd like to the school or project of their choice.
As of Oct. 3, Baird said there were 303 projects in Harris County the company had agreed to fund for a total cost of about $222,660.
Nationwide, the company agreed to donate $5 million in total to schools in nine markets this year.
Aloha Petroleum
Aloha Petroleum Ltd. recently presented a check for more than $5,000 to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) of Hawaii to support the organization's mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
During July and August, Aloha Petroleum helped raise a total of $5,467.67 for the ADA by setting up donation canisters at its Aloha Island Mart convenience stores on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. Canisters were also set up at select Shell locations.
Parker's
Parker's presented a check for $2,000 to Liberty County Public Schools (Savannah, Ga.) as part of the company's Fueling the Community program. The donation is part of a $20,000 charitable contribution Parker's is making this month to area schools in Georgia and South Carolina.
Parker's donates one cent of every gallon of gas purchased at all 27 of its convenience stores on the first Wednesday of the month to community schools through the Fueling the Community program. The company's charitable initiative, officially launched in the fall of 2011, has donated money to public and private schools in every community where Parker's does business.
Parker's customers can sign up for a PumpPal card online at www.PumpPalClub.com to select a school of their choice for their one cent per gallon donation. Existing PumpPal members can access their account online and select a specific school to receive donations.
Valero Energy Corp.
Valero Energy Corp. is one of 10 companies in Texas to win this year's State Board of Education's Employers for Education Excellence award.
The Texas Education Agency announced the winners, with Valero named as the sole recipient from San Antonio. The award recognizes employers who implement policies that encourage employee involvement in school activities.
For almost 20 years, Valero Energy has provided Northside Independent School District mentors. Currently, the company has 44 mentors working throughout the district involved in the company's mentoring program. Overall, approximately 3-to-4 percent of Valero San Antonio employees regularly take part in school activities and volunteer at schools, the TEA stated.
Nestle
This October, the makers of Nestle Pure Life bottled water (NPL) will again support breast cancer awareness and research with their "Pink Pack" retail program. This will be the third year that NPL has sported the pink ribbon logo of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Currently, 91 cents of every dollar spent by BCRF is directed towards breast cancer research and awareness programs.
Every NPL "Pink Pack" produced counts towards the donation to BCRF, with a minimum donation this year of $500,000. Available at retailers nationwide, as well as in Canada, and through the company's Home Delivery Service, the special packs are marked with a symbolic pink ribbon and the BCRF logo.
New to this year's program, NPL is inviting consumers to join its effort by making their own contributions towards the cause by visiting a dedicated "Pink Pack" page on BCRF's Time For Research fundraising website.
Budweiser
Budweiser's "Walk-off a Hero" program raised $2.5 million for the Folds of Honor Foundation (FHF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational scholarships to families of fallen or injured soldiers. The 205 total walk-off wins during the 2012 regular season will help provide 205 scholarships to recipient families.
For each of the 205 walk-off wins during the 2012 regular season, Budweiser donated $5,000 to FHF. In addition to the "Walk-off a Hero" program, Budweiser contributed a portion of all sales from May 20 through July 7, raising a total of $2.5 million for FHF.