Our teams work hard to play an important role in their neighborhoods, both in and out of the grocery aisles. But when we open a new store, they work even harder to engrain themselves in that new community.
Cassandra Robinson, Store Director of our new Lorain, Ohio Meijer, was eager to learn more about the local organizations serving her new neighborhood upon finding out she would be leading that store. One such organization was El Centro, a nonprofit that provides social services, professional development and other resources in a bilingual setting to support Lorain’s large Hispanic population.
“I was very impressed with Meijer because they came to us wanting to know about the services that we provide, wanting to learn about the community… and how we could partner,” said Victor Ortiz, President of El Centro.
Robinson and her team volunteered at El Centro’s food pantry for months prior to even opening their new store in July.
“We want to be seen as a caring, supportive member of the business community, not just someone who’s going to come in and take your dollars,” Robinson said. “We want to make sure we are making the community a better place than where we found it.”
This story is not unique to the Lorain Meijer. Our teams work to reflect the values of their communities and support them however they can, even before our stores have officially opened their doors.
In addition to volunteering at El Centro, our Lorain store celebrated its grand opening in July by donating $25,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank, $10,000 to the Urban League and $4,000 to We Care We Share Ministries.