PENN TRAFFIC PROMOTES AWARENESS FOR CHILD-ADVOCACY PROGRAMS

Mark Hamstra

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In the small, rural communities of the Northeast, Penn Traffic here has found a charity for which creating awareness is just as important as raising funds.

The company's Caring for Children campaign, now in its third year, has funneled more than $500,000 into nearly 50 child-abuse prevention and treatment programs, but it also serves as a resource for people affected by child abuse to learn how to obtain help. This year it is hoping to create even more awareness by partnering with a national child-abuse prevention organization, and it is setting its goals even higher for the fund-raising component of the campaign.

One of the primary goals of Caring for Children is to leverage each supermarket's status as a hub of community activity to connect people with the services they may need, said Victoria Bentley, director of consumer and public affairs, Penn Traffic.

"A supermarket is not a captured audience per se, but thousands of people per week come in the doors," she said. "Some people who are in an abusive situation might be uncomfortable going someplace to get help, but in the supermarket, they can obtain that information in a non-threatening way without feeling intimidated."

The company decided to align itself with child-abuse treatment and prevention programs and create the Caring for Children campaign after receiving several requests from service organizations whose other sources of funding had been cut back.

Penn Traffic operates 213 supermarkets under the Big Bear, Bi-Lo, P&C and Quality banners in a six-state region from Ohio to New Hampshire, and all of the stores participate in Caring for Children to some degree. Individual stores are free to come up with their own awareness and fund-raising programs in cooperation with local service organizations. Such events have included parking-lot picnics, art fairs for children, and in-store displays.

"Every store is required to participate, and in fact they enthusiastically do so," Bentley said.

The company for the first two years has worked exclusively with local organizations, but beginning this year it is "adding strength and muscle" by conducting some awareness programs in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse America, Bentley said. Chicago-based PCA works to publicize child-abuse prevention programs through its 39 chapters around the country.

Penn Traffic stores will continue to conduct fund-raising programs with community-based organizations, however. Some of those groups said Penn Traffic's assistance extends beyond cash contributions.

"It's hard to measure, but we definitely believe it's raised awareness," said Kevin Revere, law-enforcement coordinator, Oneida County Child Advocacy Center, Utica, N.Y.

Penn Traffic supports the center through four of its P&C stores in Oneida County by conducting an annual fund-raiser, by posting educational information in its stores, and through other means.

Revere said his organization gets requests to speak about child abuse from various groups who have heard about the CAC through P&C's radio ads or from in-store materials that the stores display.

"We've been around for years, but people still don't know we're here," he said. "This helps us get our name out there and makes people aware that we're here."

The Oneida County CAC handled about 500 allegations of sexual and severe physical abuse last year, and made about 120 arrests. It is funded through both private and government support.

P&C is the CAC's largest corporate sponsor, Revere said, having raised about $20,000 in the last two years.

Terie Delahunt, director, Oswego County Child Abuse Task Force, Oswego City, N.Y., agreed that the three P&C stores in her county "are also helpful beyond just raising money."

She said the P&C supermarkets display literature to raise awareness and also donate food for CATF events and for the center to keep on hand for children who come in to be interviewed.

In the first two years of the Caring for Children program, the stores also raised $16,000, which has been earmarked toward the creation of a new child-advocacy center that would consolidate several services in one location.

In order to raise money for the organizations it supports, Penn Traffic leverages its relationships with its suppliers to create incentives for shoppers to donate. During the month of June, cashiers at the checkout counters offer a small treat -- a candy bar or a piece of fruit, for example -- to any customer who makes a donation by purchasing a coupon for $1, $3 or $5. Vendor partners have included Baker's Pride, which provided apple snack pies; Del Monte, which provided bananas; and Power Ade, which provided bottled sports beverages. Penn Traffic also has offered its own private-label candy bars.

"We wanted to make it really impactful," Bentley said. "We wanted to make it so that they would say right on the spot, 'There's no reason not to donate. I can help a good cause and get my incentive right here."'

The company raised $329,000 last year, exceeding its goal of $250,000 and nearly doubling the preceding year's total. This year the company is seeking to raise $350,000.

Individual stores also conduct their own fund-raisers, like a dinner-dance that one store sponsored last year in partnership with a local restaurant. That event raised $4,500 for the Oneida County CAC.

"I think when you work with the local organizations, the people in the community feel like their money and their efforts are going toward helping children in the community where they live," Bentley said.