ILLINOIS (WAND) - A campaign created by the Illinois Retail Merchants Association highlights the efforts retailers have made to support communities during the pandemic.
Retailers across Illinois have been involved in donating food to frontline workers and creating food drives to help vulnerable people. Essential retailers have made changes to meet an unprecedented demand for products and ensure the environments they provide for shopping and employment are safe.
The "Illinois Retail Cares" campaign shines a light on those efforts. Examples listed in a IRMA press release include:
- Prisco’s Family Market in Aurora created a food drive in support of the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry and Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry and offered to match the first $2,000 in donations. Since April 18th, they have raised $18,000.
- Casey’s General Stores partnered with Feeding America® to provide meals to school-aged children and their families.
- Lowe’s donated disinfectants, hand sanitizer and masks to police and firefighters as well as to hospital workers and maintenance crews in the Chicagoland area.
- McDonald’s USA donated $250,000 to the “Saving Ourselves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort,” in response to the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on African Americans.
- Tony’s Fresh Market’s Charitable Foundation and the Western Union Foundation donated $100,000 to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund, which provides access to essential goods and services such as food and healthcare supplies.
“When faced with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers have been there to provide direct relief to the people and communities they serve," said IRMA President and CEO Rob Karr. "We applaud their exceptional work, which comes at a time when they have made necessary changes to accommodate the record demand for goods and provide safe shopping experiences for everyone that steps into their stores. Illinois’ retail community will continue to provide essential services while we all work to overcome this pandemic and will be instrumental in our recovery once we come out the other side."
Find out more about the initiatives retailers have implemented across Illinois here.
