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:
Chevron Corp.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Kern County, Calif., received a $20,000 donation from Chevron, allowing them to put their critical thinking skills to the test during their summer vacation. Now, instead of going through a regular summer camp, club members get to play with robots while learning math and science, according to a Chevron representative. The curriculum includes building robotic Legos they can operate with a smartphone.
The summer camp runs from June through August.
CHS Inc.
More than 3.2 million meals, an increase in contributions of 30 percent over 2012, are headed to hungry families thanks to the annual CHS Harvest for Hunger food and funds drive by the Country Operations division of farmer-owned cooperative CHS Inc.
Since the program's launch in 2011, the equivalent of more than 7.5 million meals has been raised. In 2012, the effort provided the equivalent of more than 2.45 million meals.
CHS Country Operations bolstered donations to CHS Harvest for Hunger by more than $312,000 in additional contributions to local communities to help friends and neighbors.
CHS Harvest for Hunger took place in March at nearly 60 CHS Country Operations retail locations. Donations collected went to regional food banks. Fundraising activities varied at each location.
Cumberland Farms Inc.
Cumberland Farms named the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund as the beneficiary of a month-long fundraiser.
For four weeks which began April 29, Cumberland Farms is donating 20 cents from every Chill Zone beverage, brewed tea and coffee (iced or hot) purchased at three newly renovated stores in New Jersey directly to the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund. Cumberland Farms aims to raise at least $5,000 to go toward helping the victims of Hurricane Sandy rebuild their lives.
Over the past year, Cumberland Farms has donated more than $100,000 to support local organizations across the Northeast.
GATE Petroleum Co.
Through its Green Shamrock Campaign, The GATE Foundation supported the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) by donating nearly $65,000 through the sale of $1 green shamrock lapel pins in GATE convenience stores March 1-21.
MDA’s Shamrocks Against Dystrophy program helps local families that are affected by the 43 diseases that the association covers, including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Proceeds from the shamrock sales help support the association’s worldwide research program, as well as MDA’s national network of 225 hospital-affiliated clinics.
Shamrock sales also help send some 1,200 children with muscular dystrophy to MDA summer camp.
Kangaroo Express
Select Kangaroo Express Florida, Georgia and South Carolina stores raised more than $453,000 for Give Kids The World Village (GKTW), a 70-acre, non-profit "storybook" village in central Florida that provides cost-free, weeklong vacations for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
Over the past month, customers could donate to GKTW at any of the nearly 570 participating Florida, Georgia and South Carolina Kangaroo Express convenience stores by purchasing a $1 or $5 pin-up to hang in the store, or by donating their change at the register.
Since October 2011, Kangaroo Express has helped raise more than $1 million for GKTW, allowing more than 195 children and their families to enjoy a magical vacation.
Kum & Go LC
The Henry B. Tippie College of Business at The University of Iowa recently unveiled a new stock market video wall, funded by a $300,000 donation from Kum & Go LC and the Krause Gentle Foundation. The wall, located inside the Tippie College of Business, provides real-time financial information for students, faculty and visitors.
St. Roman Oil Co.
St. Romain Oil, a family-owned convenience store and wholesale fuels company, raised $15,395 and 4,800 jars of peanut butter for the Food Bank of Central Louisiana as a part of their Corporate Works of Mercy program, an effort to “refuel and refresh their community.”
The Food Bank of Central Louisiana’s mission is simple: to alleviate hunger in central Louisiana. To assist in this mission, St. Romain Oil held the Y-Not Peanut Butter Drive during the first weekend of March and raised $3,025 through its sponsors, $7,087 through the community and $854 from its team members in both money and goods to support the cause.
In addition to the donations made to the Food Bank of Central Louisiana, St. Romain Oil collected approximately 300 jars of peanut butter and three cases of non-perishable food items for the Care & Share Center in Evangeline Parish, near two of the company’s convenience stores, Y-Not Stop Barber Spur and Y-Not Stop Ville Platte.