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 highlights these philanthropic efforts in this special section.
Here are the latest company spotlights:
Vermont-based Champlain Oil Co., a CITGO marketer, raised $2,530.60 by collecting 3 cents from every gallon of gas purchased in the month of April at the Hinesburg Jiffy Mart. The money will go toward the construction of a new recreational facility, the Bissonette Family Recreation Area.
The 11-acre recreational facility will accommodate youth and adult recreation programs and provide adequate recreation space to support the town's athletic programs. This facility will include two full-size, multi-purpose fields for soccer, football and lacrosse, a Little League baseball field, a "tot lot" playground, parking, restrooms and storage.
CITGO and five of its local Detroit marketers teamed up with the Eight Mile Boulevard Association (8MBA), the Miss Michigan Organization and 450 community volunteers to beautify the Eight Mile corridor in Detroit. Now in its 17th year, volunteers tackled various community enhancement initiatives, including painting projects, flower planting and trash pickup throughout the 27-mile stretch of the Eight Mile corridor.
Eight Mile Boulevard Association is a non-profit organization formed in 1993 to revitalize and promote the Eight Mile business, transportation and residential corridor between Interstate 275 (west) and Interstate 94 (east) by linking the public and private sectors.
The Coca-Cola Co. is supporting Florida’s largest citrus planting in 25 years with its commitment to purchase approximately $2 billion worth of oranges produced by the new groves. Partnering with Cutrale Citrus Juices and Peace River Citrus Products, Coca-Cola’s investment will enable the growers to plant 25,000 acres of orange trees.
Through this collaboration, Coca-Cola will procure all of the fruit produced by these trees over the next 20 years. According to a 25-year study conducted by the Florida Department of Citrus, this initiative will add more than 4,100 direct and indirect jobs to the state economy.
Cumberland Farms continued its 2013 Cups for Kids campaign with May’s monthlong fundraiser to benefit Boston Children’s Hospital, the nation’s No. 1-ranked pediatric hospital. For four weeks, participating Cumberland Farms stores in eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island donated 5 cents per cup of iced coffee sold to benefit the hospital, specifically its Children’s Fund.
During its 2012 campaign, Cumberland Farms raised more than $30,000 for Boston Children's Hospital. Those donations went to support the Children's Fund, a program dedicated to delivering critical services to kids and families facing extraordinary circumstances.
Volunteers from Krispy Krunchy Foods in Lafayette, La., recently prepared and delivered 10,000 Krispy Krunchy Chicken meals to the residents, emergency responders and volunteers in the storm-ravaged area of Moore, Okla.
Representatives from Krispy Krunchy, including former Moore resident Jordan Lindsey, converged on the region from six markets across four states: Dallas; Houston; Shreveport and Alexandria, La.; Louisville, Ky.; and Chicago.
O.M.E.G.A.
The West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association (O.M.E.G.A.), an organization representing convenience stores, independent grocers and petroleum marketers across West Virginia, raised $93,515 for the Children's Home Society of West Virginia during a four-week campaign from April 15 to May 12.
O.M.E.G.A. member convenience and grocery stores partnered with the Children's Home Society to raise funds to support child assistance programs, such as emergency child shelters, foster care, adoption, mentoring, early intervention and numerous other family support programs throughout the state.
Sheetz Inc.
Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus are among the names that headlined the 15th annual Sheetz Family Charities "For the Kidz" Golf Classic, held at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., in early June.
Also playing in the charity event were Motley Crüe rocker Vince Neil and a number of former professional athletes including baseball player David Justice, NBA star Larry Johnson, Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell, and Pittsburgh Steelers players Jack Ham, Mel Blount, Mike Wagner and L.C. Greenwood.
The golf outing is a major fundraising effort for the Sheetz Family Charities, which benefits the company's Christmas program for underprivileged children who are identified with the help of the Salvation Army. Proceeds from last year's golf event benefited more than 6,900 children.
Sheetz Family Charities is also supported throughout the year by Sheetz in-store donations, proceeds from Sheetz bottled water sales and other efforts. In 2012, Sheetz raised more than $1.1 million for the charity.