Cause Marketing/ Community Programs

Mars Petcare has opened a state-of-the-art, Gold-LEED certified $110 million global innovation center in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. The new campus is the third Mars Petcare innovation center and first in the United States.

The company selected the location in Thompson's Station in part because Tennessee is home to Mars facilities in Cleveland, Chattanooga, Lebanon and Franklin (two locations).

Sports Authority has partnered with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Throughout the month of October, Sports Authority locations nationwide will be collecting point-of-sale donations with the goal of raising at least $150,000 for the NSCD.

All proceeds will go toward benefiting the lives of children and adults with disabilities.

Belk, Discovery Education and the International Society for Technology in Education have launched the Belk Service Learning Challenge, a comprehensive standards-aligned program encouraging middle school students to facilitate positive changes in their communities by applying critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity skills to a service-learning project of their choice.

Dole reaffirmed its commitment to increase healthier food options for students by teaming up with grocery retailer Martin’s Supermarkets and wholesale foods supplier Caito Foods to donate salad bars to five public schools in Indiana.

These self-serve produce bars will feature an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The makers of Adams flea and tick control brand have chosen Cheryl Knapp’s English Bulldog Ducky as the grand prize winner of its Smart Pets Contest.

Knapp won the choice of $15,000 cash or a smart car plus smart pet bragging rights. Stardom for the clever canine begins today as a close-up of Ducky flashes from a digital billboard 23 stories above New York's Times Square.

The H&M Conscious Foundation, an independent nonprofit global foundation initiated by H&M to drive long-lasting positive change for people and communities, has partnered with WaterAid to bring safe water and toilets to a quarter million students in some of the world's poorest countries by 2017.

Fashion model and H&M Conscious Foundation ambassador Alek Wek was joined on stage at the Global Citizen Festival by H&M Conscious Foundation global manager Helena Thybell to present the foundation's flagship program with WaterAid.

Belk’s fall charity sale of the year will take place Saturday, Nov. 8 from 6–10 a.m. at all Belk stores, helping thousands of participating charities across the retailer’s 16-state footprint.

The four-hour, in-store shopping event is an excellent fund-raising tool for participating organizations that sell $5 tickets to their supporters. It’s also an opportunity for customers to give back to local nonprofits while taking advantage of special in-store discounts on purchases during the event.

New York -- Uniqlo is partnering with DOOB, a global provider of 3D technology-based products and services, on an interactive holiday campaign called the “Selfless Selfie Project. The program encourage people to take a selfie that isn’t as much about them but about giving back – such as pledging to do something to give back to their local community.