Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
Snapper Chat. Over the past year, Wakefern’s Seafood associates have begun using videos to help members and store management teams get those specialty items on shelves. Whether it’s mahi-mahi from Costa Rica or monkfish from New England, Seafood associates can now show store owners fresh choices only minutes after they arrive at Wakefern’s Elizabeth warehouse.
For the Dogs. Each winter, a box is set on a table with hopes for donations. Each winter, that box overflows with dog treats, cat toys, milk bones and boxes of kitty litter. All donations go toward the Monmouth County SPCA, an organization that focuses on “providing a safe haven for homeless, abused and abandoned pets while they await adoption.”
Promise of a New Day. There were winter coats and running shoes. Baby dolls and toy motorcycles. Dress pants, dress shirts and dress shoes. The gifts were simple, but their message was powerful: We want to help you and your family this holiday season. Wakefern associates donated hundreds of gifts to dozens of Elijah’s Promise families last week. Elijah’s Promise is a New Brunswick-based organization that assists New Jersey residents who live in poverty.
Voices of Joy. Every family has its own holiday traditions, and here at Wakefern, a visit from Newark’s Fourteenth Ave. School is one of ours. Students performed for associates at Keasbey last Monday morning before hopping back on their school bus to play a second gig at General Merchandise. After the group finished performing in Keasbey, Wakefern associates surprised students and faculty members by donating eight new iPads to the school. The school has seen a steady rise in its special needs population and was in desperate need of technology to help many of its nonverbal students communicate.
A Warm Feeling. This holiday season, Wakefern is again working with the New Jersey State Police to keep families warm – one coat at a time. Over the past four winters, Wakefern has put brand new coats on more than 1,000 children in need.
Miles of Smiles. The Wakefern Run/Walk Club celebrated another year on the tracks, trails and treadmills at the group’s annual club dinner earlier this month. Dozens of associates sat down for dinner together at The Barge in Perth Amboy. By Dec. 31, Wakefern associates will have raced nearly 6,000 miles in 2017.
The Pursuit of Excellence. Recipients of Wakefern’s 2017 Customer Service Excellence awards were feted at Wall of Fame unveiling ceremonies in November. Fifty-one associates were honored this year. Winners were selected for demonstrating “the highest levels of service to our customers.”
Hurricane Help. Wakefern associates presented American Red Cross representatives with a check for $50,000. Wakefern has donated $100,000 in supplies and funds this year to support hurricane relief. Earlier this fall, two Wakefern truck drivers volunteered their time driving garbage trucks, flatbed trailers and Red Cross vehicles in Puerto Rico. The cooperative also sent a tractor trailer filled with food and supplies to the Houston Food Bank and donated 50 pallets of bottled water to Puerto Rico.
Good Times. As one last toast to summer, Wakefern associates gathered at their annual facility barbecues. They were held on different days and in separate locations, but all were filled with good company, yummy food, cool drinks and tasty treats.
Big Goals. Wakefern and ShopRite sponsored a youth soccer team from Newark, inviting its players to attend a recent Red Bulls soccer match. They walked onto the field together, each member of the New York Red Bulls paired with a student from the city of Newark. Wakefern and ShopRite helped make that moment possible, inviting players from Newark’s Just One Soccer League to Red Bull Arena for a Sept. 27 match. Those young soccer players were joined by members of the Newark Boys and Girls Club. All told, 96 children from the Newark area attended the game on behalf of Wakefern and ShopRite.