Cause Marketing/ Community Programs

Stater Bros. Charities is donating $150,000 to 13 local food banks and pantries in an effort to make sure children have enough to eat during the summer months when food reserves are traditionally low and when they don’t have access to meals through school food programs.

The funds were donated by Stater Bros. customers and employees this past holiday season during the Harvesting Hope in Our Community program.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer on Monday broke ground on a supercenter in Detroit, on the site of a former high school on the city’s west side. The groundbreaking ceremony comes less than a year after Meijer opened a supercenter at the historical Michigan State Fairgrounds in the Motor City.

The Walmart Foundation has kicked off a summer-long initiative to help children and families gain access to nutritious meals and learn healthy-eating habits. Walmart is also collaborating with Chef Lorena Garcia, chef and author with TV appearances on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” and NBC’s “Biggest Loser,” to launch the Eat Healthy Together Challenge on Twitter.

Chicago -- Stego Industries, a provider of in below-slab moisture vapor protection, has launched an ambitious new company-level initiative to eliminate the carbon emissions of its business operations.

The initiative, Stego’s Carbon Footprint Project, took another step toward this goal at the American Association of Architects (AIA) National Convention in Chicago last week by purchasing carbon offsets for all of the company’s air travel in 2013 — some 115 metric tons — through the TerraPass Carbon Balanced Business Program.

In an effort to find homes for pets through its new pet adoption service, online retailer Overstock.com has launched a new video featuring animal advocate Jill Rappaport.

Rappaport is a former “Today Show” correspondent, reporting on entertainment for 17 years before turning her attention to animal issues with her segment “Bow to Wow,” which gave shelter dogs a makeover.

Washington, D.C. — Walmart, along with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International, on Wednesday joined forces to establish a unique logo for retail packaging of products from women-owned businesses. The new logo will bring consumer recognition of products provided by women-owned businesses on store shelves both in the U.S. and international markets. 

Trenton, N.J. -- TerraCycle, an international recycling company, and The North Face are working together to pursue a solution to the common problem of massive amounts of left over polyethylene bags that are used to protect merchandise through distribution and transit. The North Face has engaged 25 of its retail stores in TerraCycle’s The North Face Polybag Brigade, to ensure these plastic bags get recycled. Together the two companies have kept 1.5 million plastic polybags, equaling more than 62,000 lbs., of plastic out of U.S. landfills.

While Walmart and the Walton family were taking heat, again, on the national stage over worker pay and alleged stinginess, it was a different situation in Northwest Arkansas where generosity was in plain view.

The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G is underway at the Pinnacle Country Club and as has been the case in years past the LPGA golf tournament is accompanied by numerous charitable donations.

Pedigree has launched its 50-state animal shelter renovation project with the help of Miranda Lambert in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, the country singer’s hometown.

“I started supporting this shelter to ensure every dog in my hometown would have a safe place to stay and enough food to fill their bellies. And Pedigree has helped me deliver on both those promises,” Lambert said at the event, where she and several community members and Pedigree employees cleaned the shelter and erected agility courses.

Sporting goods and apparel retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors has renewed multi-year contracts with Auburn University and the University of Alabama. The renewal means that it will continue to sell the universities’ licensed products in its 13 Alabama stores.
 
The retailer is currently an official sponsor of University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide and official sporting goods retailer for Auburn University’s Tigers, and has been working with the two universities for several years.