Rutter's Keeps On Giving

YORK, Pa. -- The Rutter's Companies, which operates Rutter's Farm Stores, announced that it will make charitable contributions of approximately $250,000 this year, bringing its total for the past four years to more than $800,000.

Contributions totaling $160,000 have been made to nine non-profit organizations in support of children's programs in York County, Pa. Rutter's Dairy, which began in 1921, and Rutter's Farm Stores, which debuted in 1967, traces its roots to a nine-generation family farm just north of the city of York, Pa.

"It's natural for Rutter's to focus its charitable efforts on the needs of children," said Scott Hartman, president of Rutter's Farm Stores. "Children are the future of our companies, and they're truly the future of this country. It's an honor for the Rutter's companies to support these non-profit groups and programs that do so much to improve the lives of children in our community."

The biggest of Rutter's latest contributions is $50,000 to the York County Heritage Trust, which this spring will open the new Rutter's Discovery Center for Children at its Historical Society Museum in downtown York. The interactive Rutter's Discovery Center for Children will showcase the period between 1890 and 1910 -- one of great change as America developed into a global power.

Gainor Davis, president and CEO of the York County Heritage Trust, said the Rutter's donation comes during another period of transition affecting the financial health of area non-profits. "When York County-based companies are acquired and their local operations are diminished or relocated altogether, as we have seen in recent times, this has a profound effect upon the charitable community," Davis said. "We're grateful to Rutter's for stepping up during these times to give back to organizations such as ours."

Besides the Heritage Trust, Rutter's made contributions to:

-- Big Brothers Big Sisters of York County Inc., $10,000 to support a school-based mentoring program called Students and Mentors Achieving Results Together.

-- Crispus Attucks Association in York, $25,000 to support the organization's early-learning center, which serves children up to age 12.

-- Dallastown Area Educational Foundation, $10,000 to support educational opportunity grants to teachers in the Dallastown Area School District.

-- DreamWrights Youth and Family Theatre in York, $15,000 to support main-stage productions of "Young King Arthur" and "The Night Before Christmas."

-- Susan P. Byrnes Health Education Center in York, $10,000 to provide partial scholarships for 2,000 area children to attend health-education programs.

-- York County Library System, $15,000 to support author visits to elementary schools throughout the county.

-- YWCA of Hanover, $10,000 to support Project Success, a new after-school educational program for elementary students.

-- YWCA of York, $15,000 to support Quantum Opportunities, a high school dropout-prevention program.

Family-owned and third generation-managed, the Rutter's companies comprise Rutter's Farm Stores, Rutter's Dairy and M&G Realty, a real-estate holding company. The companies employ more than 1,000 people in central Pennsylvania.

Rutter's ranked fifth on the Central Penn Business Journal's 2006 list of the Top 100 Privately Held Companies in central Pennsylvania. In 2005, Rutter's was named Business of the Year by the Central Penn Business Journal.
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