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:

Casey's General Stores Inc.
In the month of October, Casey's General Stores raised $1,015,466 in support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, far surpassing its original goal of $700,000. Customers showed their support by donating $1 for a pumpkin pin-up at Casey's stores. In addition, MillerCoors donated 20 cents per case of Coors Light and Miller Lite sold in October at Casey's locations, which totaled $24,688.

Casey's has partnered with St. Jude for the last 12 years, with customer donations and partner sponsorships reaching more than $4.3 million to date.

Childers Oil Co.
Childers Oil Co., with assistance from Lucas Oil, AMBEST Inc. and The Salvation Army, delivered two tractor-trailer truck loads (44 pallets) of bottled water to Superstorm Sandy victims. Childers Oil donated the bottled water, while Lucas Oil provided the transportation with financial assistance from AMBEST. The Salvation Army accepted the water and will facilitate its safe delivery to storm victims.

Conoco and Phillips 66
Conoco and Phillips 66 are together supporting the 2012 Angel Tree program with 105.9 KGBX radio station and the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield, Mo. The holiday campaign, which will provide Christmas gifts to more than 800 underprivileged youth in the Ozarks, will be hosted at various Conoco and Phillips 66 gas stations in the area.

From now until Dec. 18, Springfield, Mo., residents can stop by any of the 25 participating stores to get involved. Each drop-in location will have a Christmas tree on display with the names, ages and wish lists of children in need. All donations received will be wrapped by the Boys & Girls Club and distributed during its annual Christmas party on Dec. 21.

Roadrunner Markets
Employees and customers from Roadrunner Markets raised $131,441 during its 21st annual Halloween promotion to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Donations were collected during the month of October at all 92 Roadrunner Markets locations. Customers could purchase special St. Jude Halloween pumpkins for $1, which were displayed in the store. If a dollar was too much, some locations just asked customers for their spare change. Other customers donated hundreds of dollars at a time.

This is the seventh year that Roadrunner Markets participated in St. Jude's annual Halloween promotion.

Sheetz Inc.
Sheetz Inc. sent refrigerated trucks to assist the American Red Cross in distributing food to the victims of Superstorm Sandy. The use of three 48-foot refrigerated distribution trucks and drivers assisted the American Red Cross in delivering meals to storm victims in Toms River, East Rutherford and Middletown, N.J.

The chain is also collecting monetary donations for the American Red Cross through Dec. 16 across all of its locations. Customers can donate money at any of Sheetz' 431 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. Donations will go directly to the Red Cross to help rebuild the lives destroyed by the storm.

Stewart's Shops
Stewart's Shops resumed its annual holiday fundraising drive for children's organizations. The drive began on Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas. Last year, the company matched customers' donations of about $700,000, for a total of $1.4 million. Since the program started in 1986, it has raised more than $16 million.

Local children's organizations seeking funding under the program can obtain an application at any Stewart's Shop or online at www.stewartsshops.com. The deadline for submission is Jan. 31.

Valero Corner Stores
Some 400 troops, 200 Valero employees and their families, and hundreds of pounds of turkey mixed together for the eighth annual Thanksgiving with the Troops in San Antonio. The company also made sure some of the less fortunate in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area had a happy turkey day, as Valero workers donated more than 3,000 pounds of food items this year. In addition, gift cards were given to families to purchase turkey and other cooking items needed to make Thanksgiving special, while food baskets were distributed to area churches and local schools.

In other Valero giving news, the company's Corner Store locations raised a record $ 2,352,599 for Children's Miracle Network hospitals. This figure was a 21.7-percent increase over 2011. The money raised supports 32 hospitals in the communities where Valero's company-owned stores are located.

VERC Enterprises
VERC Enterprises and Rapid Refill teamed up with the Alzheimer's Association, Mass. and N.H. Chapter, to raise money and awareness for The Alzheimer's Association. The "Purple Pump Up" campaign includes selling discount coupons with the proceeds going directly to the Alzheimer's Association and the savings going to customers. Purple is the official color of the Alzheimer's cause.

This is the second year for the Purple Pump Up campaign. Last year, with only Rapid Refill locations involved, the program raised $30,000. Organizers are hopeful they can double that amount with more stores participating this year. The campaign consists of asking customers for a $1 donation, for which they receive coupons for Nestle, Pepsi and Peggy Lawton products of more than $3 value. The full $1 is donated to the Alzheimer's Association.

Wawa Inc.
In mid-November, more than 50 Wawa associates came together with Liberty USO to assemble 2,500 care packages filled with Wawa coffee, candy, beef jerky, peanuts and other Wawa products to give deployed U.S. troops a taste of home. The care packages will be taken to the Horsham Air Station where they will be added to larger packages and shipped to deployed military, primarily made up of units from Pennsylvania and New Jersey who are now serving in Afghanistan and Kuwait.

The Wawa Taste of Home care packages are part of a larger care package shipment called Operation Stocking Stuffer, an initiative organized by the USO of Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey (Liberty USO), which will send thousands of care packages to currently deployed troops.