Wawa Foundation donates $100,000 to Creating a Bold Future capital campaign
April 14, 2017
Yesterday, Wawa celebrated 53 years of serving the community with special Wawa Day celebrations at stores in six states! As part of the day’s festivities, Wawa announced $2 million in first-quarter grants to charitable organizations, including a $100,000 donation to the Food Bank to help fund the Creating a Bold Future capital campaign!
Wawa and The Wawa Foundation are committed to donating $50 million to causes supporting health, hunger and every day heroes by 2018. Since the inception of The Wawa Foundation, $35 million in grants have been awarded to community recipients.
The atmosphere at the Pulaski Highway Wawa in Bear was festive as customers lined up for free coffee! By the end of the day, Wawa had hoped to distribute two million free cups of coffee at its 750 stores. Shorti, Wawa’s hoagie mascot, was on hand to celebrate and give a round of applause to the morning’s grantees!
“We are so thankful for Wawa’s support of our organization. Our Creating a Bold Future campaign is critical for residents of Delaware who depend on our services. With the support of the Wawa Foundation, we are one step closer to meeting our goal,” said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Patricia Beebe. “Wawa has been a great community partner through the annual Check Out Hunger campaign, and we look forward to growing our partnership even more.”
In addition to the Food Bank, Serviam Girls Academy received $20,000 and Special Olympics Delaware was awarded $60,016!
Billy Connor, a Wawa employee and Special Olympics gold medalist in alpine skiing at the 2017 World Games in Austria, spoke about the impact of both Wawa and Special Olympics on his life.
No celebration is complete without cake, and the morning’s festivities concluded with special Wawa cupcakes for all!
“Wawa Day provides us with a chance to connect with and honor the millions of customers we’ve served over the past 53 years who have been so integral to Wawa’s growth over that time,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa’s President and CEO. “At Wawa, we exist to go beyond filling customer orders to fulfilling the lives that we touch every day. Our core purpose is exemplified through the commitment of The Wawa Foundation to give back to the communities we serve, as well as through the dedication of the thousands of Wawa associates who make our stores such special places. It’s always exciting to celebrate our customers, associates and communities by giving away one of our most beloved products, Wawa coffee!”
