SpartanNash Foundation Launches Fundraising Campaign to Support Military

The SpartanNash Foundation has launched its third company-wide retail fundraising campaign of 2017 to support military heroes and their families, and honor those who have lost their lives. All funds raised during the retail scan campaign will be evenly split between Give an Hour and Honor and Remember.

SpartanNash and its charitable division, the SpartanNash Foundation, have invited store guests to join them in supporting our military service members, veterans and their families through the retail scan campaign, which runs June 28-July 9. During the 12-day scan, store guests who visit any participating SpartanNash-owned retail store or fuel center in nine states will have the opportunity to donate $1, $5 or $10 at any checkout lane.

“As the leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries throughout the world, SpartanNash sees firsthand the sacrifices our servicemen and women make to protect our freedoms every day,” says Meredith Gremel, vice president of corporate affairs and communications and the executive director of the SpartanNash Foundation. “SpartanNash and the SpartanNash Foundation are deeply committed to supporting our military heroes in the communities we serve, and through our partnership with Give an Hour and Honor and Remember, we can work with our store guests to raise awareness and funds for those who served and sacrificed.”

Give an Hour

Give an Hour is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that develops national networks of volunteers to respond to acute needs within our society, beginning with the mental health needs of military servicemembers and their loved ones affected by their time of service. Give an Hour’s network of volunteers includes nearly 7,000 licensed mental health professionals across the nation, encompassing all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. To date, Give an Hour providers have donated nearly 225,000 hours of free counselling and mental health services to military personnel, their loved ones and hometown communities affected by conflicts abroad.

In addition to pledging to “give an hour” of their time each week for direct counselling, Give an Hour’s network of volunteer professionals work to reduce the culture of mental health by participating in and leading education, training and outreach efforts in schools, communities and military bases so that all in need are able to seek and receive the care they deserve.

“Give an Hour is extremely grateful for the opportunity to partner with the SpartanNash Foundation and their customers in our effort to better serve those who serve, their families and their communities,” says Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, president and founder of Give an Hour. “At Give an Hour, we are proud to offer free mental health care and support to all in need. Our critical services help families heal and can save the lives of those who feel hopeless. We are only able to provide this gift of skill and compassion because of the generosity of our volunteer mental health professionals and partners like SpartanNash, who step-up to support our organization.”

Honor and Remember

Honor and Remember aims to perpetually recognize the sacrifice of the nation’s fallen military heroes and their families. The organization pays tribute to all military lives lost, not only while serving on active duty but also as a result of serving, including PTSD. Military deaths in all wars or conflicts and all branches of service from our nation’s inception are recognized.

The primary vehicle for perpetual recognition is a specific and dedicated symbol of remembrance: The Honor and Remember Flag, which is intended to fly continuously as a tangible and visible reminder to all Americans of the lives lost in defense of our national freedoms and as a statement of appreciation to all fallen military families.

Personalized flags are regularly presented to individual families of fallen service members. Each personalized flag contains the name, theater of operation and date of death of the individual. The flags are presented at both private and public occasions.

SpartanNash is a national partner and supporter of Honor and Remember, underwriting personal flag presentations to families of the fallen and flying the Honor and Remember flag at all company facilities. The flag artwork is also displayed on SpartanNash’s fleet of tractor trailers, which travel more than 55 million miles per year.

“We are so very humbled to once again be partnering with the SpartanNash Foundation and its customers to give back to the families of the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation,” says George Lutz, who founded Honor and Remember after losing his son in Iraq in 2005. “The generosity of SpartanNash customers will allow us to further support our precious Gold Star families. Equally important is to see the Honor and Remember flag flying below the American flag and alongside the MIA/POW flag across our nation, so the public never forgets our fallen heroes.”

One-hundred percent of donations raised will go directly to the two nonprofit organizations that support military heroes, veterans and those who paid the ultimate price. SpartanNash underwrites the cost of the awareness-building and fundraising campaign as well as contributes funding and encourages associates to volunteer with the Foundation’s grant recipients.

For the 2017 patriotic retail scan campaign, fundraising dollars will be evenly split between Give an Hour and Honor and Remember to provide mental health services and support to those serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and our veterans and honor those families whose loved ones have died in service to our country.

“Each year, SpartanNash contributes thousands of dollars, products and volunteer hours to military and veterans organizations and events, and we are proud to team up with Give an Hour, Honor and Remember and our store guests to support our military heroes in this unique and powerful way,” Gremel says.

In 2016, the SpartanNash Foundation launched its first-ever companywide fundraising campaign to support its patriotic nonprofit partners. The scan benefited the company’s national partner Honor and Remember, as well as three regional community partners — Blue Star Mothers of America Inc., Disabled Veterans National Foundation and Fisher House Foundation. In total, $182,000 was raised to support our military heroes.

So far in 2017, the SpartanNash Foundation has executed retail scan campaigns to support local Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity partners in the communities it serves. To date, nearly $485,000 has been raised through the generosity of its store guests and funds contributed by SpartanNash and the SpartanNash Foundation.