Hy-Vee Joins Retailers Calling for Racial Equality With $1M Donation

Hy-Vee said it would donate $1 million and 1 million volunteer hours to organizations that support racial unity and equality primarily throughout its eight-state region. It is the latest retailer to donate to organizations in support of racial equality and joins Walmart, Kroger and Target among others in the pledge.

Hy-Vee, which operates several stores in the Minneapolis area, has already begun donating volunteer hours as its associates have joined local organizations to provide meals, snacks and water to those in impacted neighborhoods throughout the metro area as well as assisted with neighborhood cleanup efforts in the Twin Cities.

“There are times when actions speak volumes and when actions can help to create real, long-lasting change—and for us, this is one of those times,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chairman, president and CEO. “Hy-Vee was founded on a guiding set of principles we call our 15 fundamentals. Four of those fundamentals—fairness, caring, respect and dignity—deeply pertain to the current situation our country is facing today. All those who call Hy-Vee home—whether it be an employee, customer or supplier—should and will feel welcomed, included and appreciated. Anything less is unacceptable.”

The $1 million donation will be funded through the company’s philanthropic One Step program, which since its inception has already given nearly $1 million to build 86 wells in poverty-stricken communities around the world in need of clean drinking water; donated $1.18 million to provide 9.5 million meals for hungry people in the U.S. and overseas; funded the creation of 750 community gardens in urban and suburban areas to support education and food production; planted more than 420,000 trees across the Midwest to provide communities with the ecological and environmental benefits of trees; and provided an additional $1 million during the COVID-19 pandemic to Feeding America-affiliated food banks throughout Hy-Vee’s eight-state region.