Wawa Crowns 2017 Hero Award Winner

WAWA, Pa. — Wawa Inc. has crowned the winner of its 2017 Hero Award: Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey.

Through June 29 Wawa fans cast more than 10,000 votes in favor of Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey, which was presented with the 2017 Hero Award as well as a $50,000 grant during the Wawa Welcome America! festivities in Philadelphia on July 4. Three runners-up each received $10,000 grants.

According to The Wawa Foundation, the Hero Award is an honor that is given to a non-profit organization serving the greater Philadelphia area that assists others and builds stronger communities through "preserving our independence, protecting our safety and mentoring and inspiring our youth."

To apply for the Hero Award, nonprofits submitted a video and/or a short story to The Wawa Foundation website that provided background on their work with, and impact on, the community. From there, The Wawa Foundation Grant Committee selected four stories with the best fit to the award focus area and criteria, as CSNews Online previously reported.

"The Wawa Foundation commends all four organizations for their commitment to serving our communities. Thank you for sharing your inspiring stories with us," the company stated.

Pennsylvania-based Wawa operates more than 700 convenience stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.