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:

Atlas Oil Co.
Atlas Oil Co.’s charitable arm, Atlas Cares, hosted its 6th Annual Military Base Holiday Party at Selfridge Air National Guard Base (SANGB) in Mt. Clemens, Mich. in early Dec. This event is held each year to honor and recognize the men and women who fight for freedom.

For the second consecutive year, the party was opened to the entire base, representing all branches of the military. Nearly 3,000 service men and women and their families attended the event. The party featured the Ty Stone Band, a fully catered meal, games and gifts for the kids and a raffle of great prizes.

More than 125 Atlas team members volunteered at the event.

CITGO
Local CITGO gas stations in Massachusetts, Mansfield CITGO and Ameristore CITGO, in partnership with their local fuel distributor, Mutual Oil Co., collected non-perishable grocery items in December to benefit the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry in Mansfield, Mass., and the Greater Fall River Community Food Pantry in Fall River, Mass.

The items that were donated to both food pantries were distributed to local residents in need. The customers who participated in the food drive were entered in a raffle to win a $100 CITGO gift card.

ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil and its employees and retirees in north Texas raised more than $1.6 million for charitable organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the second-annual Employees' Favorite Charities Campaign.

Employees and retirees contributed to nearly 200 charities that provide a wide range of social and educational services to residents in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant counties.

Since 2007, ExxonMobil and its employees and retirees have provided more than $33 million and 56,000 volunteer hours in support of north Texas charitable organizations and universities.

JE Adams Industries
JE Adams Industries, manufacturer of vacuums, air machines, and combination units to car washes and convenience stores, put a goal out to its employees to collect food for the Salvation Army. Together, the employees more than doubled their initial goal of 1,000 pounds, contributing a total of 2,054 pounds of food/supplies to help local needy families.

Pilot Flying J
This holiday season, hundreds of thousands of wreaths were placed on the tombstones and memorials of the nation’s fallen heroes thanks to Wreaths Across America (WAA). With the help of professional drivers and customers across the nation, Pilot Flying J was proud to contribute $100,000 to the WAA campaign to honor the men and women who gave their lives to defend our country. In October, the company announced its “Cup with a Cause” campaign, which donated $3 from every $4.99, limited-edition travel mug purchased by customers at Pilot Travel Center or Flying J Travel Plaza locations across the United States. In December, Pilot Flying J donated $100,000 to WAA to assist the non-profit organization in coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and nearly 800 additional veteran cemeteries and memorials across the country and overseas.

Roadrunner Markets
Roadrunner Markets has joined with BP to donate $15,000 to Keystone Dental Care Inc. of Johnson City (KDC). KDC is a charity with a mission to provide dental care to adults in need in eight northeast Tennessee counties.

Currently nine area dentists and several dental hygienists and dental assistants volunteer their time at the clinic. There is an urgent need for more volunteer dentists, but one of the biggest expenses for the clinic is dental supplies like gloves, composite for fillings, gowns, masks, cleaning supplies, cotton rolls, bite blocks and development for X-rays. The Roadrunner and BP donation will help cover these clinic expenses.

Rutter’s Cos.
December marks the end of the most successful year of charitable giving in the 91-year history of the Rutter’s Cos., which saw over $640,000 donated primarily to children’s charities located throughout central Pennsylvania.

These are a few of the causes to which Rutter’s has contributed this year:

• Crispus Attucks Association of York received $50,000 to provide education services, human services, community development and affordable housing to York-area residents in need;
• Montessori Academy of Chambersburg received $25,000 to provide scholarships and financial aid to eligible children;
• The Bosler Memorial Library in Carlisle will use $12,500 donated by Rutter’s to continue community programs;
• The Hanover YWCA received $25,000 to continue their early-childhood education programming and provide scholarships and financial aid to eligible children;
• York Country Day School will use the $77,000 received to award academic scholarships to eligible inner-city students through the Rutter’s Scholars program;
• The Easter Seals of Central PA used a $37,000 donation to purchase a new van to be used for transporting children.

Tostitos/Frito Lay North America
Tostitos, a Frito-Lay snack brand, turned football dreams into reality for select U.S. military veterans by throwing the ultimate football party and star-studded event to support Got Your 6 and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

This one-of-a-kind on-field surprise party, created to celebrate the homecoming of veterans who have previously served overseas, was complete with legendary college football players and coaches, including Bobby Bowden, Urban Meyer, Kurt Warner and Marcus Allen; actor and screenwriter Owen Wilson; sideline reporting from “Modern Family” actor Eric Stonestreet; and a performance by chart-topping musical guest, Gym Class Heroes.

Highlights from the surprise party were captured on film and will be televised nationally during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which will be broadcast on ESPN on Jan. 3.