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Ready For Takeoff. These days, online grocery shoppers want their orders to arrive as quickly as possible without any sacrifice in quality, cost, or customer service. Wakefern recently opened its first automated fulfillment center in Clifton. This new fulfillment center will serve select ShopRite stores operated by the Inserra family in northern New Jersey and New York. The change will be seamless for customers who already place orders through ShopRite from Home. Takeoff empowers grocers to grow online through automation. The fulfillment center uses advanced robotics. Orders of up to 60 grocery items can be assembled in minutes, increasing efficiency and ensuring customers get their online orders quickly.
Court's In Session. Sandwiched between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open is this delightful piece of news for our racket-wielding associates: The Wakefern Tennis Club is returning to action.
Baking Up Ideas. Wakefern's summer interns took a field trip to Puratos, an innovator in the baking industry. The field trip is an annual summer tradition, offering college students a true behind-the-scenes look at one of our partners in the food industry.
Lending a Hand. For two days in June, athletes from all over the Garden State descended on The College of New Jersey to compete in the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games. Hundreds of Wakefern associates showed up to support those athletes. From handing out hamburgers to setting up games, members of Team Wakefern volunteered their time to help bring joy to thousands of young athletes. Wakefern is a longtime supporter of the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games.
Making Connections. Wakefern announced the launch of Connections Mentoring Program 2019. Traditionally, the program has paired mentors and mentees in a one-on-one relationship. More recently, the company added Women’s Circles. This variation pairs co-leaders/mentors with four-to-six mentees. The women’s circle meets regularly and focuses on issues and challenges that are specific to women in business. The Programs are designed to enable constructive feedback and foster career development.
Spreading Awareness. Dozens of Wakefern and ShopRite associates participated in a pair of Susan G. Komen events earlier this month. Participants helped raise both awareness and funding for Susan G. Komen, an organization that has spent decades working toward finding a cure for breast cancer.
Blue Jean Baby. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey gave Wakefern its Food award at last month’s Blue Jean Ball. The relationship dates back four decades, a partnership between two organizations committed to driving a stake through hunger’s heart. Wakefern is the largest food donor to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. And the Community FoodBank is the Garden State’s largest anti-hunger organization. In addition to food donations (more than four million pounds in 2018 alone), Wakefern has contributed more than $4 million to the Community FoodBank through the ShopRite LPGA Classic and nearly $50 million to regional food banks through ShopRite Partners In Caring.
Taking Care of Our Planet. Wakefern associates and retail green teams spruced up local neighborhoods, gardens and beaches in celebration of Earth Day. All these good deeds are not going unnoticed. EarthShare New Jersey, a 25-year-old organization that works with 400 environmental groups across the state and country, recognized ShopRite for its commitment to sustainability. The organization gave ShopRite its 2019 Environmental Leadership Award. And the Connecticut Audubon Society presented a similar award to ShopRite owner Harry Garafalo in early April.
Starlight, Star Bright. Starlight has spent the past 25 years developing mobile fun centers, offering hospitalized children access to Nintendo Wii games, Netflix shows and Hulu programming. These fun centers are mobile. They can slide in and out of patients’ rooms, waiting areas, and emergency rooms. They combat boredom and put a smile on children's faces, while also giving caregivers a chance to interact with their kids. Wakefern associates helped unveil the newest Starlight mobile entertainment center at St. Peter’s Hospital in New Brunswick. Wakefern and ShopRite have partnered with Colgate-Palmolive on several of these Starlight entertainment centers, including a unit used at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark’s Beth Israel Medical Center. In conjunction with Starlight and Colgate-Palmolive, ShopRite will be donating six Starlight fun centers to local hospitals (one for each state in ShopRite’s trading area).
Reading is Fundamental. Two Wakefern associates paid visits to local schools in honor of Read Across America. According to the National Education Association’s website, Read Across America is “an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading.” The program aligns beautifully with Wakefern’s corporate values. Many Wakefern associates have supported the program over the years, helping students and families see the important role that reading and overall literacy plays in shaping a child’s future success.