Savannah, Georgia-based Enmarket donated 51,000 reusable bottles to local public schools.
Convenience retailer Enmarket joined a coalition of local businesses in donating 51,000 reusable 20-ounce translucent water bottles to students in Savannah-Chatham and Effingham County public schools in Georgia.
The effort is intended to help ensure a safer experience for students. Enmarket became the project’s principal sponsor, providing 32,000 bottles to Savannah-Chatham students and 14,000 to Effingham students.
The Centers for Disease Control issued guidelines in May for operating schools during COVID-19, including a recommendation for staff and students to bring their own water to minimize the use and touching of water fountains. The Georgia Department of Education, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health, developed and issued Georgia’s Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools, which recommends turning off school water fountains and providing bottled water or allowing students and staff to bring water bottles from home.
“When we became aware of this need, we saw a way to give back to the community, give back to the education system and to make school a safe experience for students,” said Brett Giesick, president of Enmarket. “When school officials deem it’s safe for students to return, then they will have these bottles to use.”
C-Stores Support Their Communities
Convenience stores have been looking out for their communities long before COVID-19, and they continue to do so.
Beginning in August, 7-Eleven distributed 200-250 meals each day on Tuesdays and Fridays through September 4 by sponsoring the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation’s to-go lunch program. The sponsorship included 2,400 bottles of 7-Select water and a $20,000 cash donation to provide food to the Dallas community.
“Food insecurity has become even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many children not having access to meals during the last few months of the school year or throughout the summer,” said Larry Hughes, zone vice president, 7-Eleven. “We hope these children and their families feel support by the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, 7-Eleven and other organizations in our local community.”
Meanwhile, Casey’s supported the communities of eastern Iowa as they recovered from a derecho that hit the Midwest in August. The company delivered 19,500 bottles of water to the American Red Cross in Cedar Rapids and water and snacks to the American Red Cross of Central Iowa. The chain also provided food to frontline energy workers, and several Casey’s stores continue sending warm meals to community centers serving relief workers.
Casey’s also donated $10,000 to food banks in Eastern Iowa and Central Illinois to support communities impacted by the storms. On September 8, the company launched an in-store fundraising campaign to benefit Feeding America and 58 Midwest food banks during Hunger Action Month.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Big Red Stores team members in Arkansas came together in July to exceed their goal of $45,000 for Folds of Honor by raising $60,612 through community car washes and bake sales. “It is an honor to raise scholarship funds for families of fallen and wounded soldiers who have sacrificed everything for our freedom,” said David Hendrix, co-owner of Big Red Stores.
From July through September, Gulf Oil launched a campaign to give back to frontline workers. Gulf provided a minimum of $10,000 in Gulf gift cards as a thank you to health-care workers, first responders, grocery workers and teachers.
Rutter’s raised a record of more than $375,000 for local charities in 2020 through during its 18th Annual Children’s Charities Golf Outing. Since 2003, the golf outing has raised $2.5 million for local children’s charities in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. “We are extremely grateful to our suppliers, vendors and partners for their support of our annual golf outing,” said Scott Hartman, president and CEO of Rutter’s. “During these difficult times, their contributions will give us the opportunity to continue supporting local
children through Rutter’s Children’s Charities.”
Sheetz For the Kidz, the employee-driven charity of Sheetz, raised a record $839,460.27 in its annual July fundraising campaign, an increase of $205,391.04 over July 2019’s donations. Customers took the opportunity to support kids in their local communities through donation boxes near the register and also adding donations to their purchase at the point of sale during July at all 600 Sheetz locations. “We are extremely grateful for our customers’ tremendous generosity,” said Brittany Funcheon, executive director for Sheetz For the Kidz. “We continue to be blown away by our customers, who through these challenging times, generously donated to this campaign in a major way. Their donations will make the holiday season brighter forthousands of children and families in need.”