This
month at a Publix event at The Square Grouper, United Way board chair Candy
Fincke and president Margie Smith (both at far left)
received a corporate gift
from Publix of $52,100, a match to employee donations.
Publix and Its Employees Donate $117,763 to the United Way
Next time
you shop at a Publix store, take time to thank an employee wearing a “LIVE
UNITED” sticker on his or her badge for giving back to our community. A total
of 138 Publix associates throughout Monroe County have collectively pledged
$65,663 in payroll deductions to our local United Way campaign – up 60% from $41,096
pledged last year.
Publix Super
Markets Charities matched the associates’ pledges with a $52,100 check, for a
total of $117,763 to United Way of the Florida Keys. In all, the supermarket
chain raised nearly $49 million for this year’s United Way campaigns in
Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Locally,pledges from Publix employees totaled $18,350 and $16,562 from the Searstown and
Key Plaza locations in Key West, respectively; $16,410 at the Key Largo store,
and $12,000 at the Marathon Publix.
“When I first
joined our organization in 2010, the Publix campaign was around $56,000. Last
year it went up to $72,000. This year’s boost to nearly $118,000 is thanks in
part to a new store opening in Key West, as well as increased giving from
individual employees,” said United Way of the Florida Keys president Margie
Smith.
“We are
thrilled to pass this along through increased funding to nonprofit programs in
Monroe County. All dollars raised stay in the Keys,” Smith said.
This summer,
from July 25 to August 14, Publix shoppers can purchase “School Tools for Cool
Kids” gift cards at check-out. This effort is part of United Way’s annual
“Stuff the Bus” school supply drive to help Monroe County schools.
Additionally, all Publix supermarkets in the Keys donate food on a regular
basis to food pantries who are United Way agencies.
Leadership
donors pledging $1,000 or more to this year’s United Way campaign: Publix
district manager Timothy Maloney; Key Largo store manager Paul Bean; Marathon
store manager Steve Levine and Erin O’Hara; Key Plaza store manager Kevin Piper
and Miguelina Concepcion, Miranda Hendrix, Ali Irving, Keana Konrad, Benjamin
Rogers, Tammy Sharp Welch and Robert Williams; Searstown manager Kimberley
Seitz and Fannie Browne, Stephen Kussrath, and Kevin Schellhamer.
Publix associates
pledging at least $500 will be recognized as United Way Emerging Leaders: Jeyson
Londono, Deborah Loughran, Miguel Quinones, Marlon Watson, Michael Wood and
Rene Zorrilla from the Key Largo store; Melanie Castillo and Jose Luiz from
Marathon; Daniel Depastino, and David Welch from the Key Plaza location in Key
West; and Justine Braddy, Willie Johnson Jr., William Lukens, Ada Santiago,
Omar Watson and Mark Williams from the Searstown location.
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