ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Convenience stores are inextricably linked to their communities. In the spirit of boosting community service, April is National Volunteer Month in the United States! This is a great opportunity to coordinate efforts with your teams to help honor volunteers in your community, as well as encourage volunteerism.

The online NACS Community Toolkit highlights many ways convenience stores can recognize and celebrate community and customer volunteers. If there a local or national charity you work with frequently, help them thank their volunteers by offering discounted products or a free coffee or fountain soda. You can also donate product to a charitable event, such as bottled water and snacks to distribute at local races or school events. These are also great opportunities to put your brand in front of the community. 

April is also Keep America Beautiful (KAB) month. NACS has partnered with KAB to create a valuable resource, “Being a Good Neighbor: A Guide to Reducing Litter, Managing Trash and Encouraging Recycling.” The tool provides quick and easy tips for convenience stores to improve their customers’ experience, help the environment and, ultimately, enhance their reputation and bottom line.

And with April 22—Earth Day—around the corner, many communities will come together for the Great American Cleanup. Year-round, however, convenience retailers can help reduce and ultimately eliminate litter in and around their stores.

Here are six tips for engaging your teams on Earth Day and every day:

1. Improve recycling and trash management at your stores by figuring out what items are being littered in and around your facility. Download the checklist found in the NACS/KAB resource.
2. Listen to our Convenience Matters podcast, “Keeping Convenience Stores Beautiful,” with Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling, at KAB as she shares how to manage trash and improve recycling.
3. Promote your store’s recycling and community beautification support on your social media pages. Use #DoBeautifulThings or #cleanYOURblock so KAB can share your story.
4. Participate in a community cleanup event and consider donating self-branded product for volunteers, too.
5. Organize an Earth Day (April 22) cleanup event with your employees and their families.
6. Learn about the KAB Cigarette Litter Prevention Program and how to reduce the No. 1 form of litter in and around your property and your community.

If your company is embracing volunteerism, talk about it! The NACS Public Relations Toolkit is a great resource to use for telling your story, from how to write a press release and crafting talking points to how to pitch an interview and inspire great media coverage.