WAWA, Pa., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Every April, Wawa celebrates the anniversary of opening its first convenience store in 1964 and the launch of The Wawa Foundation established to mark the Company’s 50th anniversary in 2014. Nine years later, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation are proud to announce having reached more than $136 million in support provided to more than 6,000 community partners focused on health, hunger and everyday heroes across the company’s footprint of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Florida and Washington, DC. In addition, more than 30 million meals have been donated by Wawa stores to local food pantries through the Wawa Share food donation program.
“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our wonderful customers who support our Foundation campaigns and send our heartfelt thanks to every one of them for helping us provide funding to so many meaningful non-profit partners that have positively impacted lives across our communities,” said Maria Kalogredis, Chair of The Wawa Foundation. “We look forward to continuing our commitment to building stronger communities by championing life-saving research and care, leading hunger relief efforts, and supporting the heroes making a difference every day.”
Every year, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation support thousands of local non-profit partners throughout Wawa’s operating area with financial grants and in-kind donations. The Wawa Foundation has seven national partners: Special Olympics, The American Red Cross, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, USO, JDRF, LLS Light the Night, and Check Out Hunger (Feeding America Food Banks) supported through direct funding and the results of our in-store fundraising campaigns.
For the year 2022, support from Wawa and The Wawa Foundation provided more than $22 million in financial grants and support to national and local charity partners, 3.2 million pounds of food to local food pantries, $4 million in in-kind donations, and more than $1 million in hurricane relief support to Florida communities. In addition, Wawa associates supported almost 100 local community events including assembling and shipping more than 15,000 care packages to deployed service members through our “Taste of Home” initiative. The Wawa Community Care Beverage vans served more than 25,000 coffee, hot chocolate and beverages during Polar Plunges, JDRF One Walks and Light the Night events to support those serving others.
“At Wawa, it isn’t just our customers who support our charitable efforts. Our associates are proudly committed to their communities as well and constantly seek to have a positive impact not only through donations but also through heartfelt actions,” said Kalogredis. “We couldn’t be more thankful to have such a generous team that helps us deliver on our mission every single day.”
During the week of April 17, local Wawa stores will feature signs with highlights of local non-profits who received funding in 2022, and Wawa will celebrate its associate volunteers with a social media video campaign.
About The Wawa Foundation
As an extension of Wawa’s commitment to making the world a better place by fulfilling customers’ lives every day, it launched The Wawa Foundation in 2014. The Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded by Wawa, Inc. to support the company’s charitable giving and philanthropic activities – and ultimately to help build happier, stronger communities. The Foundation focuses its support on organizations committed to health, hunger, and everyday heroes through local, state, and national grants and / or in-store fundraising, such as, donation boxes and point-of-purchase scan materials.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e790266d-230b-4da4-a98f-9ce1573d3a2c
CONTACT: public.relations@wawa.com
