Our 2015 Community Outreach Awards Winners

By: David Fikes, Vice President, Consumer/Community Affairs and Communication, Food Marketing Institute

The goal of FMI’s Community Outreach Awards program is multilayered.  We seek to capture some of the creative and meaningful ways supermarkets interact and support their local community and we want to showcase the good that grocers do in their neighborhoods by sharing the stories of their service.  This year, FMI members and social media followers helped us do that. More than 2,000 people took part in the Facebook contest – a component of this year’s Community Outreach program—where the nominee receiving the most votes wins our social media award. During the week long contest, there was a multitude of shares and likes on the posts meaning the good that grocers do was not limited to their neighborhood, but travelled to wherever the internet reaches. Thank you to all who helped spread the word about our 20 fabulous nominees. 

We had an exceptionally strong field of candidates this year and our judges complained of wanting hazard duty pay because their task so taxed their brains. In a contest where all are winners it was difficult to determine the cream of the crop, but the final tally did reveal leaders in each of our categories. Our winners in our youth development, food insecurity and health improvement categories truly demonstrate the dedication and generosity grocery stores give to their communities. And the winners are…  

Youth Development Programs Winner

“The relationship between the stores and their neighborhoods has always been at the core of who Russ’s Market is. We are excited to build that strength with Russ’s Community, and with the Russ’s Community Harvest Festival in particular,” said Pat Raybould, president and CEO, B&R Stores, Inc. Full Story

Programs Addressing Food Insecurity Winner

“Giving back to our communities is part of who we are as a company and something we are just as passionate about as serving our customers in our stores," said Meg Ham, Food Lion president. "Hunger Action Month provides a great opportunity for us to celebrate a month of service through The Great Pantry Makeover, so our associates can spend time in our communities remodeling and restocking local food pantries to help them continue to provide food to people who are making tough choices because they’re struggling with hunger.” Full Story

Neighborhood Health Improvement Programs Winner

“We are proud to offer Weis Mystery Tours™ to children, families and the community as a fun, interactive way to learn about nutrition and family meals. We get a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the families that participate,” said Jonathan Weis, chairman and CEO of Weis Markets. Full Story

"People's Pick" Social Media Category Winner

“Our mission is to give back to our communities because our communities are good to us. That is what Food City wants to do and we are passionate about giving,” said Steve Smith, president and CEO of K-VA-T Food Stores. Full Story

See all our 2015 nominees and get ideas to start your own community outreach program at www.fmi.org/CommunityOutreach.