DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia – Last week, Canada’s Atlantic Convenience Stores Association (ACSA) held its fourth annual Convenience Store Day, across the country’s Atlantic Provinces. As part of the annual event, more than 70 community leaders and politicians volunteered for 20-minute shifts at 50-plus convenience stores throughout the region, raising money for local charity. While this year’s final numbers are not in yet, last year’s event raised close to $50,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.

Much of the news coverage around the event focused on the ways that convenience stores are an integral part of local business and communities.

“People sometimes underestimate how important convenience and corner stores are to a community,” Lawrence Briggs, operator of a local Needs location, said of his participation in Atlantic Convenience Store Day. “They are operated by local people and employ local people. They are very important to the community.”

Convenience Store Day is held annually across the region to raise awareness of the importance of corner stores, while raising money for worthy causes. For retailers, the day is also a way to thank customers for their loyalty and to recognize the contributions of convenience store owners and operators.

A variety of community members participated in the local programs, including law enforcement officers, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, town councilors and other community leaders.

According to the ACSA, convenience stores are not as prevalent as they once were. Tobacco legislation and changes to lottery rules have hurt the industry’s small-business owners, as has the growth of big box stores selling more convenience items.

For Alfred King, the chairman of Cumberland County Crime Stoppers, which received a portion of the day’s donations, the day was one in which he could promote the organization and the work it does to help solve crimes. “It’s great for us because it raises money we can use for our tips program and for promoting what we do in the community and in the province,” said King.

NACS organizes a similar program, NACS In Store, in which legislators are invited to spend several hours at a convenience store in their community, to better understand how the legislation they create affects the convenience industry.

Learn more about NACS In Store and catch up on coverage of past events. For real time coverage of NACS In Store events, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.