IGA Launches 4th-annual Campaign for Wounded Warrior Project

IGA has teamed up with Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) for its fourth annual IGA Exclusive Brands donation initiative. During this national campaign—which will run in participating IGA stores from Memorial Day Weekend (May 26) through Labor Day weekend (Sept. 1)— a number of WWP co-branded IGA Exclusive Brand products will be available for purchase. By fall of this year, IGA plans to donate $250,000 to WWP. 

For 2014, IGA will again make available specially marked cases of WWP-branded IGA bottled spring and drinking water, as well as hotdog and hamburger buns, and ice cream.

Select IGA Red Oval partners -- an alliance of food manufacturers and service providers who partner with IGA to provide extensive resources that are unavailable to other independents --will be joining in with a contribution from displays placed in IGA stores. Kraft-featured beverage enhancers include MiO, Crystal Light and Kool-Aid. Again this year through a partnership with The Hershey Company, Mondelēz International and Kraft Foods, IGA retailers will also be offered S'mores ½ - ¼ pallet ready displays (PRDs) that include Honey Maid Graham Crackers, Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallows and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars.

Additional funds will come from retailers’ own fundraising efforts held through community events and in-store campaigns as well as the IGA WWP Golf Outing to be held on June 9 at Cantigny Golf Course in Wheaton, Ill. 

New to the program this year, IGA retailers will be provided with social media components like approved messaging and graphics that will help them connect with their shoppers on Facebook and Twitter to build awareness of their participation in the IGA WWP program. Also new is point of purchase signage that demonstrates WWP’s holistic approach to serving injured service members through programing devoted to four pillars: Mind, Body, Engagement and Economic Empowerment. 

“Over the past three years we have been overwhelmed with the support our independent IGA retailers and their IGA shoppers gave this Wounded Warrior Project event,” said IGA SVP of Procurement and Exclusive Brands Dave Bennett. “We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with our IGA retailers, Licensed Distribution Center partners, Exclusive Brand suppliers and Red Oval partners Kraft Foods, Mondelēz International, and The Hershey Company to raise funds and awareness for Wounded Warrior Project again in 2014."

“When you add in new elements that will help retailers connect with their shoppers in exciting new ways and also give shoppers an idea of how specifically their donation is helping, we believe our impact will be bigger and better than ever," Bennett continued. "We look forward to seeing how IGA’s innovative retailers will use these new tools and the event as a whole to benefit Wounded Warrior Project’s important mission to honor and empower our nation’s wounded warriors.”

More than $675,000 has been donated to WWP in the name of IGA retailers since 2011.