CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. – A news report from Atlanta’s NBC news affiliate this week profiled QuikTrip’s role as a vital place of sanctuary for what they described as “hundreds of metro Atlanta kids who need help.”

The news source spoke with staff at Clayton County's Rainbow House, an emergency shelter that takes in homeless and abused teens through the Safe Place program. Young people can seek Safe Place help at libraries, fire stations and yes—gas stations and convenience stores like QuikTrip.

According to Rainbow House employees, when a child comes to a QuikTrip store for assistance, a QuickTrip employee takes the child to a comfortable area in the back of the store, and the employee— who is trained in how to keep the child calm—makes them feel safe until shelter staff can arrive. QuikTrip partnered with Safe Place 30 years ago and the yellow and black signs outside its gas stations tell children they can come inside for a hot meal, peace and quiet, and help. All clerks are trained in how to talk to kids about their options and get them off the streets to safety.

Rainbow House shelter manager Sherelle McKinley Thomas told the news source that having a partner in QuikTrip has been a game changer for the Safe Place program. It gets kids the help they need where they need it, before they walk out to the street. So far this year, QuikTrip has helped 500 kids through Rainbow House alone. QuikTrip also partners with two other agencies in Atlanta and hundreds of shelters across the United States.

A video of the news report is available here. For more information on the many ways that convenience retailers are reinventing how they serve communities, visit nacsonline.com/refresh.