At the NACS Show each year, the industry gathers to exchange ideas and share best practices, but the goodwill of the community doesn’t stop after four days. The 2023 NACS Show wrapped in October, and NACS, with the help of the Atlanta Community Food Bank and other organizations, facilitated the donation of eight truckloads of food and supplies. Since 2002, NACS has coordinated donations after the Show closes, with this year marking the largest contribution ever.

The NACS Show spotlights more than 1,200 suppliers, with food and beverage a huge category. While attendance at the Show tops 20,000 people, there is always some product remaining that suppliers don’t want to take back home for logistical reasons.

NACS, along with the Georgia World Congress Center, assisted with logistics like paperwork, badges, parking and training for nearly 150 volunteers. As the Show’s end approached, NACS distributed bright orange stickers to mark the items that would be donated so that the volunteers could easily collect and take items to the appropriate donation trailer.

Coordinating the donations takes months of preparation—and many hours on the Show floor. It’s another way of demonstrating what the convenience industry is all about—community.