Sioux Falls Hy-Vee Stores' Operation Helpful Smile Program Surpasses $2 Million in Donations
May 21, 2015 | News & Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Customer contributions, Hy-Vee match provide funds to selected local nonprofits each week
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (May 21, 2015) — Operation Helpful Smile, the Sioux Falls-area Hy-Vee stores’ fundraising program, has given back more than $2 million to local nonprofit organizations over the past 11 years.
The program surpassed the milestone this week with its donation of $1,341 to the American Red Cross, which has been an Operation Helpful Smile participant since 2005. Hy-Vee, Inc. employees presented the donation check to the Red Cross on Monday.
Operation Helpful Smile donates funds to a different local nonprofit organization each week. Customers can contribute to each week’s fundraiser at the checkout line, and Hy-Vee matches customer contributions received for each organization up to $1,000.
“Giving back to our communities has long been a cornerstone of Hy-Vee, and we are proud to help local charities and nonprofit organizations through Operation Helpful Smile,” said Bob Trader, store director of the Empire Hy-Vee in Sioux Falls. “I think our customers appreciate Operation Helpful Smile because they can see right at the register which local charity will be receiving their dollars or change, and they can trust it’s going to a good cause. We couldn’t have reached this milestone without their generosity.”
So far this year, Operation Helpful Smile has donated $41,017 to local charities. The program has assisted almost 100 nonprofit organizations and charities in the Sioux Falls community since its inception in 2000.
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Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 235 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of $8.7 billion annually. Hy-Vee ranks among the top 25 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States. Supermarket News, the authoritative voice of the food industry, has honored the company with a Whole Health Enterprise Award for its leadership in providing services and programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. For more information, visit www.hy-vee.com.