Award-winning cause marketing campaign features Kroger associates who are breast cancer survivors.
For the sixth consecutive year, The Kroger Co. Family of Stores, in partnership with key suppliers, has committed $3 million in donations for local breast cancer initiatives across the country to support National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October.
At the end of this year, Kroger will have donated more than $21 million to support breast cancer research, education and services since Giving Hope a Hand began in 2006.
Kroger received a 2012 Gold HALO award from the Cause Marketing Forum for the company’s annual Giving Hope a Hand campaign. The effort kicked off in stores on Sunday, Sept. 23 and features 48 Kroger associates who are breast cancer survivors on marketing materials and custom packages of national and Kroger corporate brand products. These women share their survivor stories on the packaging of select items sold exclusively in Kroger’s family of stores.
Kroger associate Janie Weber, who works as a front end/floral clerk for Dillons Division in Newton, Kan., is featured this year on Kroger bottled water.
Weber never thought she would have cancer, but throughout her treatment she always had hope: “What really helped me were prayers and my family’s love and support,” she said. “Their smiles and laughter helped me through the rough times. I learned I was a lot stronger than I ever knew. There are a lot of cancer patients in the world and there have been a lot of survivors, which gave me hope.”
“The Kroger family applauds the willingness of our associates to share their personal stories as breast cancer survivors,” said David Dillon, Kroger’s chairman and CEO. “Their participation in this unique campaign inspires, educates and offers courage to our customers and other associates who are affected by this disease.”
Janie Weber’s inspirational story and others can also be found at www.sharingcourage.com, an interactive Website dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness. Kroger customers, associates and their friends are also encouraged to show their support and encouragement through our Sharing Courage online community, where they can:
• Post words of encouragement for a loved one or the community at large on the Wall of Hope at www.sharingcourage.com or www.facebook.com/sharingcourage.
• Show Your Courage by stamping your facebook profile photo or cover photo with a Sharing Courage graphic found on the Sharing Courage facebook page.
• Send an ecard to a loved one via the Shring Courage facebook page.
Kroger’s campaign features a store-wide sales promotion of popular items, many of which will feature exclusive, specially-marked pink packaging. This year, 1,600 items, including Kroger’s own products and popular items from Kroger partners including Energizer, Freschetta, General Mills, Greenlite, Kellogg’s, Kimberly Clark, Kraft, Pepsi, Purina, Sargento and SC Johnson will be marked with special shelf tags to highlight participation. The full list of partners can be viewed at http://www.sharingcourage.com/Our-Partners.aspx.
Kroger, operates 2,425 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banner names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s. The company also operates 788 convenience stores, 342 fine jewelry stores, 1,124 supermarket fuel centers and 37 food processing plants in the U.S.
