Shopko Foundation Awards Nearly $80,000 in Community Grants

GREEN BAY, Wis., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Shopko Foundation announced that it has awarded grants totaling $79,800 during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 through its Green Bay Area and Community Charitable Grant Programs.  The Shopko Foundation is proud to have awarded grants totaling over $26 million in the last 33 years in the communities where Shopko does business. 

"Shopko views each community where we serve our customers as our 'hometown'," said Mike Bettiga, Shopko Interim CEO and Chief Operating Officer. "We appreciate the opportunity to serve these communities and strive to strengthen them through the Shopko Foundation's support of charitable groups and activities that are important to the people who live and work there.  We are passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and educational opportunities for our neighbors in all the communities we serve."

Recipients of grants through these two Foundation programs include the Greater Green Bay YMCA, Rebuilding Together and Encompass Early Education & Care, Inc. as well as over 165 other charitable organizations and schools across the 21 states served by Shopko and Shopko Hometown stores. 

The Shopko Foundation awards grants to 501(c)(3) organizations or accredited schools in communities where Shopko stores are located. The grants are awarded throughout the year to support programs which further the Foundation's purpose of promoting the health and education of Shopko teammates and customers.

About Shopko

Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is a $3 billion retailer that operates over 325 stores in 21 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain, North Central and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 134 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in small to mid-sized cities; 5 Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept; 17 Shopko Pharmacy locations and 176 Shopko Hometown locations, a smaller concept store developed to meet the needs of smaller communities. 

Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm focused on leverage buyouts, equity, debt, and other investments in market-leading companies that can benefit from its in-house operating professionals and experience.

For more information, visit www.shopko.com.

About the Shopko Foundation

Founded in 2007, the Shopko Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation operated exclusively for charitable purposes.  To maximize its impact, the Foundation has a narrow focus on areas of giving that support the health of Shopko customers, teammates and communities. The Foundation also recognizes that education is fundamental to an individual's health and functionality in society. Funds support established non-profit organizations with a proven record of success in maintaining solid, critical programs or innovative new organizations and programs supported by established non-profits or successful leadership.  The Shopko Foundation issues grants to support organizations or programs that help citizens of all ages maintain or improve their physical health and help students succeed in school and become self-sufficient adults.

For more information, visit www.shopko.com/foundation.

SOURCE Shopko