Winn-Dixie :: Our Commitment to the Community

Our Commitment to the Community

Being a good corporate citizen and a good neighbor in the communities in which we operate has been a part of the Winn-Dixie philosophy and commitment since the beginning in 1925.

The following are just a few of the countless ways in which Winn-Dixie and its associates strive to make a difference in the communities we operate in:

Project Thanksgiving

NEWS 12's Project Thanksgiving was established in 1991 to provide holiday turkeys to less fortunate people in the WPEC NEWS 12 viewing area: Palm Beach Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.

It does this by soliciting contributions from viewers and sponsors. 100% of the money contributed is used to buy certificates for turkeys. NEWS 12 and its sponsors, Winn Dixie, Wachovia Bank and Palm Beach Kennel Club, pay all of the overhead costs and administrative support is through United Way.

The goal is to foster family meals during the holidays, some turkeys may be provided to organizations for group meals.

The certificates are distributed to non-profit organizations, churches, shelters, pantries and social action groups who, in turn distribute to families in need.

Guidelines
The number of turkey certificates to be distributed is completely determined by the amount of money raised. Most of the funds raised are converted to $15 Winn Dixie certificates, which may be redeemed at any Winn Dixie supermarket in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River or Okeechobee counties for a turkey. Some of the funds are used to buy turkeys in bulk.

Through the generous contributions of viewers and sponsors from 1991 through 2005, NEWS 12's Project Thanksgiving has raised a total of $1,487,474 and distributed approximately 150,000 turkeys to families in need. For information on how you can help please call 561-375-6651.

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)

Winn-Dixie has partnered with the Florida Department of Education to promote the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) for the past two years.

The SFSP was established to ensure that children in needy areas continue to receive a nutritious meal during school vacations. Free meals are provided to all children at approved "open"or "enrolled" SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children.

Last year the program was promoted in the South Florida stores through bag stuffers, book marks and posters. This year it was done through the weekly ad, generating an extraordinary response. The Florida Department of Education received over 100 telephone calls per day from different states.

We are very happy with the results of this partnership. It's a great example of how we're getting better all the time at serving the needs of our communities.

Disaster Relief

Winn-Dixie has been first on the scene with water, ice and other support when our customers and associates were devastated by floods in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida; hurricanes in Northand South Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Louisiana; tornadoes in Florida; and water supply crises in Florida and Oklahoma.

Girl Scout Council Honors Winn-Dixie at National Philanthropy Day

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council honored Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. for continuing to be an outstanding corporate friend at Florida First Coast Chapter of Association of Fundraising Professionals' 20th Annual National Philanthropy Day. Some activities Winn-Dixie generously supported in 2005 include:

Passages -- an in-depth program to prepare girls for middle school. Thanks to Winn-Dixie's gift, this program grew by leaps and bounds in 2005.
Metals of Honor -- to recognize girls who earned the Girl Scout gold, silver, and bronze awards.
Women of Distinction and Women Who Make a Difference -- to honor women in Jacksonville and Gainesville, and to support Girl Scouting in North Florida.
Program support for organizing troops, providing financial assistance to families with need, training adult volunteers, and maintaining camp properties.

On behalf of Girl Scouts of Gateway Council and all the girls we serve, thank you to the employees of Winn-Dixie Stores!

Canine Assistants Sponsorship Program

Darrian Fuqua, a 16 year old boy from Huntsville, AL has been diagnosed with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy, which has confined him to a wheelchair. His condition makes everyday activities such as picking up dropped objects, opening and closing doors and getting help in case of an emergency very difficult. Darrian frequently drops items and is unable to pick them up. It is difficult for him to perform many of the common everyday tasks. In an effort to help make daily tasks a little easier for Darrian, Milk-Bone has teamed up with Winn Dixie to sponsor a Canine Assistants service dog for him. Instead of Darrian needing to ask someone for assistance his new service dog will provide the help and independence he needs and deserves. Among other tasks, his dog will assist with retrieving dropped objects, opening doors, turning on and off lights and obtaining help in case of an emergency. Darrian looks forward to the companionship of a service dog and the added confidence his new best friend will offer. Darrian enjoys playing video games, fishing and playing challenger league basketball and baseball.

Stephanie Miner, a past Canine Assistants recipient, and her dog Baby Ruth will be on hand to make the introduction and to explain the benefits these highly trained services dogs can provide to people with disabilities. This dog will be an example of the dog Darrian will receive. His actual service dog will be selected and trained to meet his specific needs and will be given to Darrian at the Canine Assistants training camp he will attend at a later date.

Milk-Bone purchases from Winn Dixie during the designated time period, help support Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization dedicated to training service dogs to assist persons with disabilities. Since the training of one of these special dogs cost more than $10,000, many disabled Americans cannot afford service dogs of their own. Through this program, Milk-Bone and Winn Dixie is enabling persons in need to receive a dog up to two years earlier. This will be the 3rd Canine Assistants sponsorship provided to a recipient this year. And over the past 6 years, Milk-Bone’s program has sponsored 208 Canine Assistants throughout the nation!

When Jennifer Arnold founded Canine Assistants in 1991, an organization that provides trained service dogs to individuals with disabilities, it was the realization of both a lifelong dream and deep personal need. At age 16, Jennifer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative nerve disease that changed her life. Unable to walk for two years, Jennifer learned firsthand the overwhelming difficulties facing the disabled. Rather than resigning herself to a lifetime of dependency on others, Jennifer decided to do something about the situation.

She began investigating the use of service dogs to assist those with physical disabilities to carry out the basic tasks of daily living. Jennifer quickly discovered that there were no programs to train and place such dogs in her home state of Georgia and it was immediately clear to her that such a program was badly needed. She sought the help of her father, an Atlanta ophthalmologist, who agreed to help organize and fund a group dedicated to providing trained service dogs for those who needed them.

Obstacles to Jennifer’s dream arose almost immediately. A drunk driver killed her father shortly after the planning began. Due to financial difficulties, Canine Assistants did not open for almost ten years. At last, thanks to Jennifer’s tireless dedication and fundraising, the organization began training its first dog in 1992. Today, Canine Assistants places many service dogs each year across the country, as well as operating important community service education programs.

Canine Assistants dogs are primarily Labrador and Golden Retrievers. Most were either raised from birth at the Canine Assistants facility or adopted as young adults from animal rescue organizations. Each dog is carefully evaluated to ensure that it has the physical strength, emotional stability, social attunement and confidence to be a top service dog. Dogs chosen for the program are intensively trained at the Canine Assistants facility for a minimum 14 - 18 months, and sometimes longer, at a cost of at least $10,000 per dog. Dogs are provided at no cost to recipients.

In addition to placing service dogs, the Canine Assistants program also contains important community service and education components as well. In 1993, the organization began requesting that all service dog recipients pledge to use their dogs for a minimum of 24 hours of community service per year. To date, participants have given over 40,000 hours of their time and service to their communities.

Jennifer Arnold grew up in Atlanta, GA and is a graduate of the Lovett School and Georgia State University. Her organization, Canine Assistants, is located at 3160 Francis Road, Alpharetta, GA 30004. Visit Canine Assistants on the internet at www.canineassistants.org.

Specially-trained service dogs can be a tremendous help to physically challenged people by performing common tasks and restoring self-confidence and independence. However, the expense and time it takes to train these animals means many disabled Americans must wait, sometimes several years, for service dogs of their own. This year, for the seventh consecutive year, Milk-Bone will partner with major grocery and/or retail chains across the US in support of Canine Assistants, a non profit organization dedicated to training service dogs to assist persons with disabilities. Milk-Bone’s Canine Assistants program will fund 40 new Canine Assistants trained service dogs this year.

As part of this program, the sponsorship pays for the in-depth training, on-going support and veterinarian care of Canine Assistants service dogs. The training of one of these special dogs can take up to one year and cost more than $10,000. The Milk-Bone program will enable over 40 Americans on the Canine Assistants waiting list to receive a dog up to two years earlier.

According to Jennifer Arnold, founder of Canine Assistants, “Everyone knows that dogs can be trained to assist vision and hearing impaired people. More recently, it’s been recognized that dogs are ideal aides for those with physical disabilities as well. Our dogs are trained to turn lights on and off, open doors, retrieve objects, pull wheelchairs, summon help, physically support an ambulatory disabled person and much more.”

Arnold’s non-profit organization provides these trained dogs, along with their lifetime feeding and veterinary care, at no expense to the recipient. Unfortunately, due to the intensive and expensive training, Canine Assistants, who relies on private donations, cannot provide dogs for as many individuals as they would like to. According to Assistance Dogs International, a coalition of service dog groups, approximately 3600 disabled Americans will need service dogs over the next few years. In that time, only 500-600 dogs can be trained and placed by existing training organizations. However, through the Milk-Bone program, Canine Assistants will be able to more than double its current placement level and ease the shortage of service dogs available across the US.

Just Read, Florida!

Governor Bush believes that reading is the most powerful skill a child can learn, as it influences success in school and improves the overall quality of life. The unequivocal goal is for all students in Florida to be able to read on grade level or higher throughout their school years by 2012. The opportunity to inspire a love of reading is both a great honor and an extraordinary responsibility. With your help, we can make Florida's reading goals a reality. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.justreadflorida.com.