By Lauren DeVol
SpartanNash
Together with its store guests and company associates, the SpartanNash Foundation raised $300,000 for its patriotic nonprofit partners Team Red, White & Blue, Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember.
Between June 26 and July 7, store guests who visited any participating SpartanNash-owned retail store or fuel center had the opportunity to donate $1, $5 or $10 at any checkout lane, or round their total up to the nearest dollar to support the trio of patriotic partners. More than 135 stores participated in the Foundation scan, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, VG’s Grocery, Dan’s Supermarket and Family Fresh Market.
The $300,000 raised during the SpartanNash Foundation companywide fundraising scan campaign will be evenly split between Team RWB, Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember. SpartanNash Foundation grants will be used to connect servicemembers, veterans and their families to their local communities through physical and social activity, provide critical financial assistance and family support services and honor those who lost their lives as a result of defending our freedoms.
“At SpartanNash, we are very excited about the overwhelming support shown for our military heroes during the latest SpartanNash Foundation retail scan,” said Meredith Gremel, vice president of corporate affairs and communications and the executive director of the SpartanNash Foundation. “As a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries throughout the world, SpartanNash sees firsthand the sacrifices our servicemen and women make to protect our freedoms every day. One of our company’s core values is patriotism, and SpartanNash and the SpartanNash Foundation are deeply committed to supporting our military heroes in the communities we serve.
“Each year, SpartanNash contributes thousands of dollars, products and volunteer hours to military and veterans organizations and events – as well as hiring veterans and their family members as a Military Friendly® and veteran-friendly employer. We are proud to team up with Team RWB, Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember in this unique and powerful way, raising awareness and funds for those who served and sacrificed.”
Since 2016, the SpartanNash Foundation has raised and granted more than $1,000,000 for its patriotic partners through its fundraising scan campaigns, benefitting veterans service organizations including Give an Hour, Fisher House Foundation, Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc., Disabled Veterans National Foundation and in 2019, Team RWB, Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember. SpartanNash underwrites the cost of the awareness-building and fundraising campaign as well as contributes funding and encourages associates to volunteer with the Foundation’s grant recipients.
Team RWB
Founded in 2010, Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity. Utilizing a nationwide network of chapters, Team RWB hosts and participates in events designed to bring veterans together and engage in the communities where they live and work.
Team RWB is the bridge connecting communities – where veterans and civilians work together and gain common understanding. Team RWB takes the best of military service – the camaraderie and the physical challenges – and creates a new family of Eagles connected through physical activity.
“We’re honored and grateful that the SpartanNash Foundation, along with their store guests, recognizes the sacrifices veterans have made on behalf of our nation,” said John Pinter, Team RWB’s Executive Director. “We’re thrilled that this campaign will afford us the opportunity to support more veterans in their post-service journeys.”
Team RWB offers resources to ensure veterans have an effective transition back into their communities and ways to engage locally.
For more information, visit TeamRWB.org.
Operation Homefront
Operation Homefront’s mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so they can thrive — not simply struggle to get by — in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.
For 17 years, Operation Homefront has provided critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year.
“We are extremely grateful to SpartanNash, the SpartanNash Foundation and their incredible store guests for this generous grant as it allows us to help our military families who may be struggling to make ends meet,” said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray, Jr., President and CEO, Operation Homefront. “For a second consecutive year, they are helping us give this very special and deserving group of our fellow citizens the opportunity to thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.”
In 2018, SpartanNash Foundation funds supported Operation Homefront’s Critical Financial Assistance (CFA) program. CFA support includes, but is not limited to, direct assistance with rent and mortgage payments, utility bills, car repairs, home repairs and groceries. Thanks to the generous support of partners such as the SpartanNash Foundation, Operation Homefront has fulfilled more than 41,000 requests for assistance, providing over $25 million in grants since the CFA program began in 2011.
For more information, visit OperationHomefront.org.
Honor and Remember, Inc.
The mission of Honor and Remember is to publicly and perpetually recognize the ultimate sacrifice of America’s military fallen heroes and their families. The organization pays tribute to all military lives lost, not only while serving on active duty but also as a result of serving.
The primary vehicle for perpetual recognition the Honor and Remember Flag, which is intended to fly continuously as a tangible and visible reminder to all Americans of the lives lost in defense of our national freedoms.
SpartanNash is a national partner and strong supporter of Honor and Remember, underwriting personal flag presentations to families of the fallen and flying the Honor and Remember flag at all company facilities. The flag artwork is also displayed on SpartanNash’s fleet of tractor trailers, which travel more than 65 million miles per year.
“SpartanNash and its store guests have been faithful partners in our mission to pay tribute to the families of men and women who have given their lives in military service to America,” said George Lutz, who founded Honor and Remember after losing his son in Iraq in 2005. “Thanks to the generosity of the SpartanNash Foundation, we have been able to present hundreds of Gold Star families with personalized Honor and Remember flags that express our nation’s profound appreciation for their supreme sacrifice. Whenever SpartanNash store guests or associates see an Honor and Remember flag flying beneath the American flag, they can take pride in knowing that they are partners in our mission to ensure that the public never forgets our fallen heroes.”
Through its partnership with the SpartanNash Foundation, Honor and Remember honored more than 250 families who have lost a loved one through military service with personalized Honor and Remember flags in 2018. SpartanNash was also a presenting sponsor of Honor and Remember’s Run for the Fallen – a five-month, 6,000-mile journey to pay tribute to fallen servicemembers.
For more information, go to HonorandRemember.org.
The retail scan campaign supporting Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember is the third of four fundraising campaigns the SpartanNash Foundation will conduct in 2019. To date, the SpartanNash Foundation has raised $734,700 on behalf of local Habitat for Humanity and Special Olympics partners in eight states.
To learn more about the SpartanNash Foundation and its impact, visit spartannash.com/foundation.
