Community Service Spotlight: Aloha Petroleum, NCASEF & Rutter’s

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:

Aloha Petroleum Ltd.

In recognition of Military Appreciation Month this May, Aloha Petroleum Ltd. will support all military personnel, their families and veterans through savings and support at its Aloha Island Mart locations. The May Military Appreciation Month programs include:

• Fuel Discount - All active military in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserve, their dependents and military veterans will save 10 cents per gallon on fuel when paying cash with a valid military I.D. Visit www.alohagas.com/militarymonth/splash.html for participating locations.
• Hope for the Warriors Fundraiser - A portion of the proceeds from every Spam musubi sold, as well as funds collected through Aloha Island Mart’s in-store canister collections, will be donated to the national nonprofit organization, Hope for the Warriors.   
   

Chevron USA Inc.

Graduate students at Colorado State University (CSU) will be conducting new research to help solve environmental conservation challenges on lands that support multiple uses, including energy production in Colorado, thanks to support from a new grant from Chevron to CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources.

The Chevron donation of $1 million established the new Chevron Graduate Fellowship Program at CSU. The program is dedicated to expanding the base of knowledge about Piceance Basin ecosystems and the inter-relationship with human development.

The new research will tackle issues such as sudden aspen decline, stream function and sensitivity, restoration of stream and riparian areas, adaptive management of rangelands and wildlife habitat, and energy development impacts on large mammals in the Piceance Basin.

The grant provides funding to support five graduate student research projects on Chevron property in western Colorado for two and a half years. The research will begin this summer, and a symposium to showcase the findings is tentatively scheduled for late fall 2016.

In other Chevron news, the company donated $40,500 to the Velma-Alma School District (Oklahoma) that will be used to buy Apple iPads for students.

Consumers Petroleum

Partnering with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) in the fight against neuromuscular disease since 2003, local CITGO Marketer Consumers Petroleum and its Wheels convenience stores raised nearly $34,000 for MDA through its annual shamrock mobile campaign. During the six-week promotion, Wheels locations and independent dealers across Connecticut, including 11 CITGO-branded locations, encouraged customers to purchase paper shamrock mobiles. All of the proceeds from the shamrock sales went to MDA to support programs and services in Connecticut.

Consumers Petroleum set goals for its locations based on store volume during the campaign, which ran in February and March. For lower-volume stores, the company instituted a fundraising goal of $800, enough to send one child to MDA's summer camp in Hebron, Conn. High-volume Wheels stores were encouraged to raise closer to $2,000, which could send two children to MDA camp and help fund local clinics at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Conn.

As MDA's largest corporate sponsor, CITGO has raised more than $160 million since 1986.

Kangaroo Express

Kangaroo Express, a division of The Pantry Inc., is supporting members of the U.S. military, veterans and their families through the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) Giving Program.

This program was started in May 2012 to coincide with Armed Forces Day, May 18, when America honors and recognizes the critical contributions of our nation's service members. Members of the SAF Giving Program are corporations and foundations that make an annual commitment to support Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces.

Kangaroo Express is the latest organization to join the SAF Giving Program. This summer, customers will have the opportunity to give back through a  donation program that helps to provide continued Red Cross services to America's military families.

The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (NCASEF)

The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (NCASEF) has chosen Swim Across America (SAA) as its “Charity of Choice” for 2014.

Every year, worthy charities benefit from NCASEF’s fundraising efforts, which last year included a cause equity campaign with vendor partners, as well as silent and live auctions and the Joe Saraceno Golf Tournament held at the NCASEF convention. This year’s convention will be held July 12-16 in Orlando, Fla.

Over the past two years, NCASEF has raised over $1 million for various charities, including Hire Heroes USA, MDA and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Local NCASEF Franchise Owners Associations routinely hold golf tournaments, picnics and other charity fundraising events to benefit charitable organizations in their local areas.

Rutter’s Farm Stores

Rutter’s Children’s Charities raised more than $115,000 to benefit local children at its 12th annual charity golf outing.

Since it began in 2002, the two-day outing has raised over $1.25 million for children’s charities in Central Pennsylvania. The York Hospital, Boy Scouts of America and Shiloh United Church of Christ (UCC) Early Learning Center are just three organizations that will receive a portion of the proceeds from this year’s outing to continue their work with children.  
 
The York Hospital will use Rutter’s $37,000 donation to purchase a special ventilator for the neo-natal emergency room. Camp Tuckahoe, a Boy Scout and Cub Scout camp in Dillsburg, Pa., will receive $30,000 to create the Rutter’s Boating Center on the camp’s Memory Lake, and the Shiloh UCC Early Learning Center will use an $11,000 donation from Rutter’s to complete a playground in honor of two students who passed away.