A tradition of
helping hospitalized kids began at Giant Food Stores in 1985 when a
group of store managers and specialists raised money for a local
children's hospital through a golf event. Under the operating banners
of Edwards Warehouse Foods and First National Supermarkets, Inc., an
annual event called "Our Kids" was launched to benefit kids served by
children's hospitals in several Eastern states. In 1997 after the
merger of Edwards and Giant, the Giant/Martin's division continued
the Our Kids tradition.
Giant's 2006 annual “Our Kids” golf
tournament was held on 11 courses in Pennsylvania and New York. With
the help of Giant's vendors, customers and associates, $1.4 million
was raised for Children’s Miracle Network, the alliance of premier
hospitals for children, through the golf outing and recent
store-based fundraising efforts. To date, Giant has raised more than
$14 million to support children’s hospitals in the Philadelphia,
Harrisburg, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Danville/Altoona and Buffalo
areas. TOPS Markets have participated in the annual golf outing for
the past three years.
“Each year for
the past 10 years, the Giant family of associates, sponsors and local
partners has teed up to support brave children who are fighting for
good health,” said Tony Schiano, president and CEO of Giant. “It
warms our hearts to fund state-of-the-art care, life-saving research
and community awareness delivered by exceptional children’s hospitals
located in the communities where we live and operate.”
Giant Food Stores, LLC, headquartered in
Carlisle, PA is one of four retail-operating companies under Ahold
USA and one of the leading supermarket operations in the U.S. Giant
currently operates 103 stores as Giant Food Stores, 119 stores as
Tops Markets and 26 stores as Martin’s Food Markets. As a company,
Giant is proud to work with hundreds of local organizations in the
communities it serves and has a long-standing commitment to eradicate
hunger and improve the quality of life for children. With nearly
40,000 associates, Giant serves a six state market area including
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio.
For more information about Giant Food Stores, visit
www.GiantFoodStores.com.
In addition to its annual golf tournament,
Giant also contributes funds raised by associates through in-store
campaigns. Each summer Giant associates sell Children's Miracle
Network balloons and during the holidays, stores sell paper candles
through their "Candles for Kids" promotion.
