Now in its third year, Operation Brotherly Love is a holiday carnival that supports more than 400 Philadelphia-area families in need, and provides more than 1,000 children with personalized holiday gifts and brand new winter coats. I believe it has become one of the largest holiday events for families in need in the Philadelphia Region.  When you include the volunteers, Operation Brotherly Love touches more than 2,000 people from Philadelphia and the surrounding region.  It promotes a common vision of connecting with families and children in need, to create a happy holiday season for all. 

Wawa is a leading partner of this event, led by the efforts of Adam Schall, Wawa’s Planning & Analysis Director.  Every year, Wawa’s support and number of volunteers grows, and this year was no exception.

The event took place the weekend of December 10 at Urban Outfitters’ headquarters in Philadelphia, and this year the event grew so significantly that two carnival events were held for the children, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, to accommodate all of the additional families included. This year, Operation Brotherly Love served families from the Mayor’s Office of Community Service, PAL (Police Athletic League), Big Brothers, and Big Sisters, and Northern Home.

The smiles from the children, families, and volunteers, show the fun and impact the event has on everyone attending. And do they have fun!  The highlight of the event is a full-blown carnival with all the trimmings! During the event, children are treated to carnival games, balloon artists, face painters, arts and crafts, dancing, entertainers and a family photo station.  Every child receives a brand new gift and a brand new winter coat courtesy of Operation Warm.

Although this is the third large scale event, Adam and a group of close friends started on a much smaller scale, reaching out to shelters, visiting them before the holidays, and bringing gifts, candy and most importantly, giving their time to show someone cared.  Today, the fundamental principle of sharing joy with others and helping those in need is still the foundation of Operation Brotherly Love.  The hundreds of volunteers attending experience that joy first hand, and they realize what a huge impact a little of their time has on the families attending.

This year, hundreds of Wawa family and friends attended and helped in various ways. From preparing and serving lunch, snacks and treats throughout the day – to hosting families and making sure they experience every fun element of the carnival, volunteers make the real magic of this event happen.

So, while the event has grown – doubling in size this year, so has the desire to share joy and inspire others to get involved, volunteer, look around them and see what they can do to have a positive impact within their community. I’m very proud of our Associates and of all the volunteers who make this event possible.

This holiday season, let Operation Brotherly Love inspire you to enact positive change within yourself and within the community.

‘’Till next time…

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/12/08/wawas-operation-brotherly-love/

We may have been experiencing winter-like temperatures here at Red Roof early last Friday morning, but all of us were warmed by the hearts and spirits of our associates helping to provide our troops abroad, with a taste of home.

On Friday, Nov. 18, close to 80 Wawa associates teamed up with members of the USO to provide our troops with a taste of home through the form of Wawa Care Packages.  Together, we all felt proud as we assembled these care packages filled with Wawa coffee, nuts and cashews as well as letters expressing thoughts and thanks from associates and community members.  It was especially meaningful for many of us from the area, as we knew that these care packages would be shipped to deployed military, primarily made up of units from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, who are now serving in Afghanistan and Kuwait.  It was uplifting to know that our friends and neighbors, who serve our great country each and every day, would have a little taste of the familiar, right in time for Thanksgiving.

This event is all part of a larger care package shipment called Operation Stocking Stuffer, an initiative organized by USO of Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey (Liberty USO) who will send thousands of care packages to our troops. After two hours of care package creations, our event ended with a bang as military Humvees drove off with the packages to the Horsham Air Station, where they would be added to larger packages and then shipped to deployed military.

For all of us at Wawa, this event was part of our long commitment to support our troops, and in our small way, say thank you.  We have been sending coffee at the request of soldiers since 2002, and throughout the years, have sent thousands of shipments of coffee to help boost our troops’ morale and their alertness!

This summer, we partnered with the USO for our Wawa Welcome America! celebration and had a special letter writing station at our Hoagie Day extravaganza.  This partnership allowed us to sponsor care packages which were sent over the summer and included the customer letters written during Hoagie Day, thanking our troops for all that they do. 

We’ve received countless letters from the troops thanking us for providing a taste of the familiar, so we want all the troops out there to know, the coffee will keep on coming.  As Thanksgiving approaches, we give thanks to each of you who keep our great country safe. 

“Till Next time…

If you visited a Wawa sometime during the past month, you probably noticed the colorful sneakers hanging throughout the store. It’s all part of our annual effort to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF’s) sneaker sales campaign, where we encourage our customers to buy a $1 paper sneaker at check-out to support diabetes research.

Throughout the month of September, the bright paper sneakers were hanging in our stores, and throughout October, you’ll see hundreds of Wawa Associates attending the annual JDRF Walks throughout the Delaware Valley.  Today, millions of families are affected by Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes and nothing means more to those parents and their children than to feel the strong support of Wawa’s customers and associates.

I am proud to say that this year we raised record amounts through our in-store collection efforts, and for that we have you – both our customers and our associates – to thank.  Because of you, paper sneaker sales raised more than $366,755, an exciting record total!  Every year during our in-store fundraising campaign, our store teams ensure they are talking to customers, sharing with them the opportunity to get involved, raise funds and increase awareness to help find a cure, and our customers respond with a kindness and benevolence that never ceases to amaze us.

While we have many individuals to thank, it’s truly a total team effort that contributed to record sneaker sales. To our associates, thank you for the incredible in-store fundraising, for committing yourselves to walking for a cure and to handing out beverages and snacks during the annual Walks throughout our 5-state area. 

This year, store #967 in Blackwood, NJ, managed by Laura Ferry, led the way, with the highest sneaker sales of any Wawa store chain wide!  Laura credits her associates with the success, saying that “They all understand how much of an impact each sneaker sale can have on finding a cure. This is a great cause and I was able to get everyone involved.” All of our stores, from Virginia to New Jersey showed their passion for helping their friends, neighbors and fellow associates who dream of the day when a cure will be found.

To our customers, thank you for your wonderful generosity and unwavering support of our fundraising efforts.  Every year, you support our efforts to find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. We couldn’t do this without you.

All of us at Wawa have a strong belief that the JDRF is vital in the mission to finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes and in making a positive difference in the lives of those affected by it.  JDRF-funded research is moving us closer to our goal of a cure than ever before and to our customers and associates, we want to say “we have you to thank!”

“Till next time…