Consumers are more aware of the sustainability practices their favorite brands support—and NACS is no exception. This year, several initiatives were at play during the NACS Show at McCormick Place in Chicago to reduce the event’s overall carbon footprint.
Transportation
This year’s shuttle buses were operated by Kushner & Associates, a recipient of Green Ride Global’s Green Preferred Supplier List that also donates to a variety of carbon-offset programs. Kushner & Associates shuttle bus fleets feature exhaust gas recirculation, biodiesel and ultralow sulfur diesel fuel, 12-speed transmissions that increase fuel mileage by as much as two miles per gallon, tires that decrease vehicle weight and vertical exhaust systems.
McCormick Place
The largest convention center in North America, McCormick Place has been designated as a LEED-certified building by the U.S. Green Build Council. Other energy-saving measures include monitoring and tracking HVAC, lighting and plug loads daily to reflect true electricity need. McCormick Place was the first convention center in the world to receive Green Seal certification for environmentally responsible food purchasing, operations and management. There is also a half-acre garden atop McCormick Place that began as part of the West Building’s LEED certification process. Home to nearly 100 different varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, edible flowers, perennials, native prairie flowers and a small orchard plus 20,000 honeybees, butterflies and worms, the garden yields 8,000+ pounds of seasonal, farm-fresh bounty every year.
Food
Post-event food and product was donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a member of Feeding America and Chicago’s Bags of Hope, as well as Fight2Feed, which collects donations from restaurants and food distributors. This year’s totals include: 72,706 pounds of food donated.
NACS has developed resources to help convenience retailers manage food waste and embark on their own food donation program. Learn more at www.convenience.org/foodwaste.
EG America Honored for Veterans Support
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) recognized EG America with three awards during its inaugural Dinner of Gratitude in September. EG America was named Partner of the Year for its strong commitment to DAV’s mission of service to disabled veterans and their families during the past year.
EG America also was recognized with DAV’s National Adjutants Circle and Champions for Heroes awards.
“EG America has made a long-standing commitment to DAV in many ways to support our mission by raising funds and awareness of our organization in their U.S. stores,” said Marc Burgess, CEO of DAV. “Since our partnership began in 2019, EG America has raised more than $1.6 million dollars to help DAV provide services to America’s heroes. EG’s leadership and store teams’ outstanding commitment to the veteran community exemplify how our partners can help amplify the mission in the communities DAV serves.”
During November, EG America is hosting an in-store campaign to mark Veterans Day and honor the service and sacrifice of the brave men and women who have served our country. Team members will ask customers to donate to DAV during checkout. The funds will help DAV show veterans that they are not alone by helping them:
- Get the benefits they deserve
- Receive transportation to medical appointments
- Find meaningful employment
- Receive assistance during times of disaster
Cumberland Farms, Certified Oil, Fastrac, Kwik Shop, Loaf ‘N Jug, Minit Mart, Quik Stop, Tom Thumb and Turkey Hill will participate in the program. “Our partnership with DAV has always been a very important initiative to our company and is fully supported by our guests,” said George Fournier, president of EG America. “We are honored to be recognized and extremely grateful for these prestigious awards from DAV, and our team would like to dedicate these to the hundreds of veteran team members and guests in our more than 1,700 stores across America.”
Maverik Raises More Than $580,000 for Feeding America
In September—Hunger Action Month—customers who frequented their favorite Maverik convenience store generously rounded up their cash transactions to the nearest dollar, resulting in $255,348 in donations to Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States.
September’s roundup campaign adds to Maverik’s $180,767 donation to Feeding America in February and its direct donation in January of $150,000, which brings the company’s total 2021 donation to $586,115.
“We activated a second Round Up campaign this year to help support millions of our neighbors still struggling with hunger due to the pandemic,” said Chuck Maggelet, president and chief adventure guide of Maverik. “We’re overwhelmed and thankful to our customers for sparing their change to help fight this battle together.”
Ninety percent of customer donations that were raised locally stay local, with each region’s collections going to serve food banks that assist people in that same region. Maverik’s donation will be distributed to 15 Feeding America member food banks across 11 Western states where Maverik operates. The remaining donation will support Feeding America’s national strategies to help fight hunger in America.
CEFCO Supports Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
CEFCO’s annual Miracle Balloon fundraising campaign benefits Baylor Scott & White McLane Children's Medical Center and 15 other CMN Hospitals in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida. All 200+ CEFCO locations in six states are participating in the campaign through November 16. In 2020, Temple, Texas-based CEFCO and CMN Hospitals celebrated 21 years of partnership. Since 1999, CEFCO has served children in various communities by raising more than $5 million for local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals located in Texas and other Southern states, including $400,000 in 2020.