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 highlights these philanthropic efforts in this special section.

Here are the latest company spotlights:

Corner Store
Customers and team members at CST Brands Inc.’s Corner Store raised a record-breaking $2.4 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Donations from the October campaign will benefit 32 member hospitals in the communities where Corner Store operates.

Corner Store employees invited customers to purchase $1 or $5 Miracle Balloon icons that included a coupon for savings on in-store goods. In addition to the Miracle Balloons, customers could purchase a “Glow for Kids” glow-in-the-dark bracelet for $1, or donate spare change.

The $2.4 million raised during Corner Store’s monthlong campaign will help fund equipment, research, therapy and charitable care for millions of kids treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals each year. Corner Store has been a partner of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals since 1995, raising funds for children’s hospitals through multiple campaigns totaling more than $19 million.

Jacksons Food Stores Inc.
On Thanksgiving Day, Jacksons Food Stores and the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence launched the “Give the Gift of Peace” campaign, an annual holiday-season campaign that runs through Dec. 25 to raise funds for the prevention of domestic violence. This is the 10th-year anniversary of the campaign throughout the Northwest.

Contributions can be made at Jacksons Food Stores locations in increments of $1, $5 or $10. At the end of the campaign, CEO John Jackson will match customer contributions dollar for dollar, up to $75,000. All proceeds will go to the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Since 2008, customers have contributed to the campaign by purchasing paper doves at Jacksons Food Stores. To date, the annual “Give the Gift of Peace” campaign has raised more than $600,000 to help end violence against women and girls.

Jacksons Food Stores in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada are also participating in the campaign. Proceeds will go toward coalitions against domestic violence in those respective states.

The Parker Cos.
Parker’s recently presented a $4,000 check to Beaufort County Schools in Beaufort, S.C., as part of its Fueling the Community program. The donation was officially presented at the Beaufort County Board of Education meeting in early November.

Parker’s donates 1 cent of every gallon of gas purchased at all of its convenience stores on the first Wednesday of the month to area schools through the Fueling the Community program. The company’s charitable initiative officially launched in the fall of 2011 and has donated money to public and private schools throughout South Carolina and Georgia.

Parker’s customers can sign up for a PumpPal card online at www.PumpPalClub.com to select a school of their choice for their 1-cent-per-gallon donation. Existing PumpPal members can access their account online and select a specific school to receive donations.

QuikTrip Corp.
QuikTrip committed $12.5 million to A Gathering Place for Tulsa, a 66.5-acre development planned along the Arkansas River that will connect three previously independently owned sites with the existing River Parks. A land bridge design will serve to connect the east and west sides, with the intent of turning the waterfront of Tulsa, Okla., into a dynamic and active space.

A Gathering Place for Tulsa will also include features such as a lodge, boathouse, nature walks, sporting areas and a pond.

Western Refining Inc.
During its 22nd annual St. Jude Halloween Promotion, Western Refining raised more than $337,000 to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through its Giant and Howdy Convenience Stores.

More than 200 Giant and Howdy's stores in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona came together in the monthlong promotion that asked patrons at checkout to donate $1 to St. Jude. In exchange, customers were memorialized with personalized Halloween-themed pinups displayed in the retail locations.

Over the past 21 years, Western Refining’s annual Halloween promotion has raised more than $4 million to help fund the lifesaving research and treatment being done at St Jude’s.

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