Facebook Youtube Linkedin Instagram
Contact Us

A Century of Service

A Century of Service: Celebrating 100 Years of Community Commitment

For 100 years, AWG’s commitment to service has been woven into the fabric of who we are. Alongside our vendor partners and member retailers, we have long believed that the communities we serve are not separate from our business; they are the reason for it. From local food banks to youth athletics, disaster relief to medical research, AWG’s dedication to giving back reflects the cooperative values that have sustained us for a century.
When our members thrive, communities thrive. When we invest in the neighborhoods where we operate, we strengthen the very foundation that makes independent grocery possible. This commitment has taken many forms across our history, evolving with the times while remaining constant in purpose: to make a meaningful difference in the communities where we live and work.
Today, through AWG Cares, strategic partnerships, and the daily work of our teammates, we continue this legacy with the belief that service to community is service to each other.

AWG Cares: Teammates Giving Back

Nine Divisions, One Mission: Feeding our Communities

Fighting Hunger with Kellanova

Investing in the Next Generation: Mission Tiger and Youth Athletics

The Lou Fox Community Service Award

Since 2002, AWG has recognized members who exemplify outstanding community leadership through the Lou Fox Community Service Award. Named in honor of Lou Fox, AWG’s general manager and president from 1955 to 1983, this annual award celebrates retailers who embody the cooperative’s values through their commitment to the communities they serve.

AWG Cares: Teammates Giving Back

Long before any formal charitable foundation existed, AWG maintained strong partnerships with United Way, supporting campaigns that addressed critical needs across our operating areas. Individual departments organized team-building events where entire teams would volunteer together—building homes, sorting donations, serving meals, cleaning parks—turning service into both community impact and team connection. AWG also regularly partnered with vendors to host fundraisers, demonstrating what the cooperative model could accomplish when applied to service.

In October 2017, AWG formalized this tradition by establishing the Associated Wholesale Grocers Employee Charitable Foundation, known as AWG Cares. What began with 23 employees and $11,500 in grants during its first year has grown into a powerful force: more than 400 grants totaling over $1 million to charitable organizations across AWG’s footprint.

AWG Cares is employee-driven. Teammates nominate local charities in three core areas: disaster relief, medical research, and hunger and homelessness programs. An employee advisory committee reviews grant requests twice annually, ensuring support reaches organizations making meaningful impact in communities where AWG operates.  AWG also matches employee donations to the AWG Cares funds, extending the impact each team member can have on the causes we support. Since its founding, grant awards have grown from $500 to $3,000 per organization, reflecting both increased employee participation and AWG’s deepening investment in the foundation’s mission.

The foundation also includes an employee relief fund, created in 2021, which provides financial assistance to AWG teammates and their families facing emergencies like house fires, natural disasters, medical crises, or sudden hardship. To date, the relief fund has issued more than 70 grants totaling over $70,000, supporting colleagues when they need it most. In 2024, AWG partnered with the Emergency Assistance Foundation, the nation’s leading organization for employee relief funds, ensuring this critical support continues.

AWG Cares also hosts an Annual Day of Service, bringing hundreds of employees and their families together to volunteer at local organizations. From food pantries to homeless shelters, community centers to environmental clean-ups, AWG teammates donate their time and energy to causes that matter in their own backyards, continuing the same spirit of hands-on service that has always defined us.

Nine Divisions, One Mission: Feeding our Communities

Every month, AWG’s nine division support centers do something essential: they donate food to local food banks in their communities. Each division makes feeding families a priority, not occasionally, but as a consistent, ongoing commitment.
AWG’s divisions work year-round to ensure surplus product reaches families in need instead of going to waste. It’s our way of showing up for the communities that support our business every day.
These donations represent more than just cases of food leaving a warehouse. They represent teammates who care, operations teams who coordinate logistics, and a cooperative culture that has always believed access to food is a fundamental need.

Fighting Hunger with Kellanova

For the past several years, AWG and Kellanova have partnered to donate $25,000 per year to Feeding America network food banks. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, operates a network of more than 200 food banks serving communities nationwide. Our annual contribution with Kellanova directly supports efforts to provide meals to families facing food insecurity across the country, reaching far beyond any single AWG division’s local impact.
Since 2021, AWG and Kellanova have been leveraging our shared values to fight hunger. By combining a friendly sales competition among AWG’s division support centers, this creative campaign was the first of its kind for the AWG Cares employee charitable foundation. Now in its fifth year, both companies are excited to continue this tradition.
Fighting hunger has been part of AWG’s DNA for generations, but strategic partnerships amplify that work. By joining forces with Feeding America and Kellanova, we have been able to extend our reach. This is service at scale, rooted in a century-old belief that no one should go hungry.

Investing in the Next Generation: Mission Tiger and Youth Athletics

AWG’s partnership with Mission Tiger and WK Kellogg Co demonstrates how service can take many forms, including giving middle school students the chance to play. Through a $32,500 contribution to DonorsChoose, AWG helps schools across its 33-state footprint invest in athletic equipment, facility upgrades, and uniforms that make youth sports accessible.

Since its launch in 2019, Mission Tiger has created more than 2 million sports and play experiences for kids at over 3,000 schools nationwide. AWG’s involvement extends that mission into the communities where our members and teammates live and work.
This commitment to youth reflects AWG’s understanding that strong communities require investment in the next generation. Whether through middle school athletics, educational programs supported by AWG Cares grants, or local youth initiatives championed by member retailers, we know that today’s young people will shape tomorrow’s communities. Supporting their growth is an investment in the future of the towns and neighborhoods that sustain independent grocery.