Community Service Spotlight: Chevron, QuikTrip & Jacksons

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.

With the help of local Chevron and Texaco marketers in five markets, Chevron Corp. conducted its 2015 Fuel Your School program, a collaboration with DonorsChoose.org to support public education in 21 U.S. communities.

The program provided up to $8.8 million this fall to help fund classroom supplies and materials, including materials focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and hands-on activities to help connect real-world experiences to classroom learning.

Beginning Sept. 1, public school teachers from participating communities were invited to post classroom projects at www.DonorsChoose.org. From Oct. 1-31, the Fuel Your School program donated $1, up to a total of $8.8 million, to help fund eligible classroom projects when consumers purchased eight or more gallons of fuel at participating Chevron or Texaco stations.

In other Chevron giving news, the company partnered with The College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University (FIU) Student Media and gave a $20,000 donation. Through its University Partnership Program, Chevron has made FIU a “preferred partner school,” alongside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

Niccole Boswell, Chevron’s diversity portfolio manager, said the company was interested in FIU because it has the highest rate of Hispanic professional engineer graduates every year. Donations from the partnership will go to student organizations and a first-generation general scholarship fund.

The Hershey Co.

The Hershey Co. launched Nourishing Minds, a global social purpose that will provide children in the United States and abroad with the basic nutrition that is critical for them to learn and grow. By using its expertise in food production and making great-tasting snacks, Hershey will feed children in need today and give their communities necessary resources to ensure food security in the future. The goal is to nourish one million minds by 2020.

In the U.S., Hershey is partnering with Feeding America and its child nutrition programs, including The Backpack Program, which provides backpacks full of food for children in need to take home over the weekend, as well as the School Pantry and Kids Cafe programs. Hershey is supporting Feeding America member food banks in six cities across America this year, with plans to grow the partnership over time.

“Children should not have to worry about where they will find their next meal. Yet, one in five struggle with hunger in America,” said Nancy Curby, vice president of corporate partnerships at Feeding America. “With Hershey’s support, we are able to provide more meals to children in need, which is critical to their growth and development.”

Jacksons Food Stores

Jacksons Food Stores, based in Meridian, Idaho, donated an iPad Learning Lab to two different schools. The first was a team effort between Jacksons and Dairy Farmers of Washington to donate an iPad Learning Lab to students at Forest Park Elementary in the Shoreline School District of Lake Forest Park, Wash. The second lab was given to Buckman Arts Focus Elementary in Portland, Ore., and Jackson’s teamed with Dairy Farmers of Oregon. 

Each Learning Lab includes 10 iPad devices and a mobile cart that can store, charge and sync up to 30 iPad devices.

These donations were made possible through Jacksons’ “Milk Builds Strong Schools” campaign, which ran in its convenience stores throughout Washington from March 18 to May 26. Five percent of milk gallon sales were set aside to fund an iPad Learning Lab. The two schools were randomly selected in a drawing of all public schools in each state.

Mondelēz International Inc.

Mondelēz International, based in Deerfield, Ill., announced its sustainability goals for 2020, an ambitious end-to-end approach to reduce its carbon footprint.

The new goals include reducing absolute carbon dioxide emissions from manufacturing, in line with science-based targets; reducing deforestation within its agricultural supply chain; focusing water-reduction efforts in high-priority locations; and eliminating packaging material.

Working with leading organizations, the new goals focus on reducing key end-to-end environmental impacts — from the field through distribution, the company stated.  

To secure key raw materials and support smallholder livelihoods, Mondelēz will also continue to invest and expand its signature Cocoa Life program to empower 200,000 cocoa farmers in six key origins. Ultimately, the company aims to source all of its cocoa sustainably.

QuikTrip Corp.

On Sept. 11, approximately 200 QuikTrip employees spent the day working on beautification and rehabilitation projects throughout the Westside YMCA camp as part of the annual United Way Day of Caring.

QuikTrip volunteers worked on 30 projects throughout the 28-acre camp, which included building picnic tables, painting fences, building a new fire pit, cleaning and repainting the gymnasium, and clearing trees and brush from the ropes course.

The QT team also worked on a 220-foot, dual-tunnel slide — the largest in the country, according to YMCA Tulsa officials. In Houston, there is a similar slide that is 160 feet, which QuikTrip employees test to get a feel for what was being built.

Rapid Refill Convenience Stores

Rapid Refill Convenience Stores, part of the Volta Group, based in Watertown, Mass., teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter for the fifth year. The chain raised $75,500 through its annual Purple Pump Up for Alzheimer’s campaign.

The seven-week campaign asked customers for donations and donated a portion of sales during the weekend of June 20-21. Five cents of every gallon of gas purchased at one of the 10 participating Rapid Refill stores was also donated back to the Alzheimer’s Association in recognition of the Longest Day fundraising event on June 21.

Stewart’s Shops

Glen Falls Hospital in Glen Falls, N.Y., celebrated the 30th anniversary of The Snuggery, where babies are born. Stewart’s Shop joined in the birthday celebration, serving ice cream and announcing a $250,000 “special delivery” contribution from Stewart’s and the Dake family.

The donation will be used for renovation and technology improvements in The Snuggery, which will be part of the hospital’s 2016 capital improvement plan.