Each year, Wegmans employees from all over the company participate in local community service events. Guided by our giving principles, they volunteer their time to build houses with their local Habitat for Humanity, pack meals for their local food banks, clean classrooms to prepare for a new school year and much more. Below are just a few of the ways our employees have made a difference in their local communities this year:

9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance
Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, David Paine and Jay Winuk joined together with a mission of turning the anniversary of 9/11 into a day of service. Thanks to their efforts, each year, more than 30 million Americans participate in community service events throughout the country as part of the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

This September, 100 Wegmans employees participated in the annual 9/11 National Day of Service at sites in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Our employees helped to pack non-perishable meals for their local food banks and overall, 6.5 million meals were packed on 9/11 day at various events throughout the country.

“This program is an opportunity for us to bring our folks together from across the company and work toward the common goal of giving back to our local communities, while also remembering and honoring those who were impacted by the tragic events of that day,” said Chris Holland, Wegmans Community Engagement and Communications Manager for our Virginia and North Carolina divisions.

Habitat for Humanity
Our company and stores have donated to their local chapters of Habitat for Humanity for decades. This year alone, we’ve provided over $70,000 to Habitat and our employees have volunteered countless hours to help build homes for their neighbors in need.

At our company’s headquarters in Rochester, New York, 250 employees from our corporate office, and Rochester and Southern Tier divisions came together for a Framing Frenzy in partnership with the Greater Rochester Habitat for Humanity. Over the course of the day, the team worked together to build the frames of two separate houses and load them onto a truck for delivery.

“Within hours, the downstairs frame was completely built, then the next group came in and the second floor was completely built,” said Tom Honan, Service Area Operations Manager for our Rochester and Southern Tier divisions. “It’s an amazing experience to see it literally go from nothing to a house in a matter of hours.”

Tom and the team have also committed to 10 additional build days at the home site, which will include everything from hanging drywall and laying flooring to painting walls and installing siding. Once the home is finished, our employees will attend the home turnover ceremony to present the new residents with a $250 gift card to help fill the pantries of the new home.

United Way Annual Day of Caring
All of our stores support their local United Way through weekly employee contributions, customer scanning campaigns, and various fundraising events throughout the year. In addition, over 1000 of our employees participated in the annual Day of Caring in 2023, an event that brings together volunteers to help local non-profit organizations with projects at their facilities.

In our Syracuse, New York, division, over 150 employees from seven of our Syracuse-area stores spent the day traveling around the city to complete projects at 15 Syracuse City School District sites. They collected trash, pulled weeds, and prepared the properties for the start of the school year. While the teams were originally only tasked with cleaning, our employees were so efficient that landscaping was added in, and in one case, the team cleaned up a nearby playground as well.

To the West in our Buffalo, New York, division, 100 employees split up into teams to work at four separate Boys and Girls Clubs located throughout the city. They spent the day painting rooms and structures, deep cleaning and organizing a basement, landscaping and repairing playground equipment, and building relationships with fellow employees and community members.

Further south in Erie, Pennsylvania, employees volunteered at McKinley Elementary in the City of Erie. McKinley Elementary is part of the United Way’s community school initiative, which provides students and their families with a wide range of resources directly at their school, helping to remove barriers to learning so children can be successful in both school and life.

“The team packed backpacks of school supplies for students, helped teachers prepare their classrooms, cleaned the school from top to bottom, and worked on countless other projects,” said Jana Ranus, Service Manager at our Erie West store. “We had an amazing group of employees who gave their all to make a difference for so many children in Erie.”

2024 and Beyond
As we embark on a new year, our employees are looking forward to getting back out into the community, connecting with local organizations, and supporting their neighbors in 2024. Planning is already underway for more Framing Frenzy events, expanded participation in the 9/11 Day of Service, numerous Day of Caring events, and much more. In addition, we’ll continue to look for new ways to help in our neighborhoods, as we believe actions speak louder than words.

“What I love is that we don’t just cut a check, we actually go out and put some action behind what we’re doing,” said Tom. “Our employees volunteer their time because they want to help make our communities stronger and improve the lives of others.”