FMI Reveals 2018 Community Outreach Awards Winners

11/15/2018

An Albertsons Eating Healthy With Diabetes store tour in progress

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has bestowed its Community Outreach Awards, with the winners unveiled by David Fikes, the Arlington, Va.-based organization’s VP, communications and consumer/community affairs, in a Facebook Live broadcast. The awards pay tribute to the inventive ways that food retailers aid the communities they serve.

“Community service is such an expected part of the food retailer profile it is easy to take their neighbor commitment for granted, but each year, the Food Marketing Institute seeks to recognize the oft-overlooked, but numerous unmentioned contributions and gestures of goodwill that grocers make to enhance the communities they serve,” said Fikes, adding: “Food retailers do much more than simply feed families through the food they sell to their customers. Retailers large and small-urban, suburban or rural enrich the lives of their shoppers through thoughtful community programs that often are iconic expressions of the spirit of that particular neighborhood.”

The honorees, which Fikes lauded for their "personalized programs and initiatives," are as follows:

Youth Development Program Award: Greer’s Apples for the Students provides educational supplies, from pencils to printers, to schools at no cost to them. Since its inception, 52 schools have received free educational equipment through the program. In 2018 alone, Prichard, Ala.-based Greer’s donated $60,500 toward school supplies and equipment.
Neighborhood Health Improvement Award: Albertsons’ Eating Healthy With Diabetes initiative offers a free grocery store tour led by a locally registered dietitian and an in-store pharmacist. The program is on track to conduct more than 300 tours, with an average tour size of eight to 10 participants. Many Albertsons dietitians teamed with government programs and community groups on the tours. The Boise, Idaho-based retailer is No. 3 on Progressive Grocer’s 2018 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
Program Addressing Hunger Award: In response to devastating tornados in its home state of Iowa last July, Hy-Vee donated meals, snacks and beverages to affected residents and emergency workers. As a result of the retailer’s efforts, more than 20,000 individuals benefited from food assistance, and Hy-Vee distributed 111,000 bottles of water across various communities. The total value of donations provided by the company equated to about $200,000. West Des Moines-based Hy-Vee is No. 15 on PG’s Super 50.
“People’s Pick” Social Media Award: Grass Valley, Calif.-based BriarPatch Food Co-Op offered to assist Hospitality House, which helps homeless Nevada County residents start over, by supplying farm-fresh ingredients for the meals that culinary students create for the shelter’s guests.