By Sarah Hamaker
Like many convenience store chains, the Wills Group and its family of companies strive to deliver an excellent customer experience at its 277 retail locations across the mid-Atlantic region, including 54 Dash In convenience stores, 13 of which are corporate stores with the remainder franchise-operated, 51 Splash In ECO Car Washes and SMO Motor Fuels.
While the Wills Group continues to focus on improving and growing its business through opening new locations, rebranding legacy stores and launching a new loyalty and rewards program in early 2023, the company also has a heart for community engagement.
Since its founding in 1926, the Wills Group has made giving back to its local communities a top priority.
“My great-grandparents donated a park to the town of La Plata, Maryland, where we’re headquartered,” said COO and President Julian B. (Blackie) Wills III. “We’ve always been heavily involved in our communities, and we’ve stepped that up in recent years.”
Part of the company’s Community Engagement work includes several yearly events. These include regular employee volunteer opportunities, an annual charitable match campaign to support employee giving and the annual Blackie Wills Golf Classic in September, which raised over $342,000 this year for the Blackie Wills Community Leadership Fund. The fund supports the company’s two signature programs: Nourishing Children and Families and Reimagining Outdoor Spaces.
MEETING BASIC NEEDS
The company has long supported regional and local food banks under its Nourishing Children and Families program.
“So many people struggle with food insecurity, and since a big part of our business is serving food, working with food banks is a great natural tie for us,” Wills said. “It’s one of those core needs we think can’t be underscored enough, and we want to support local food banks within our communities as best we can.”
The Wills Group began its partnerships with food banks by providing food, employee volunteer hours and grants to purchase food for their clients. “Now, we’re focused on working with our food bank partners to develop community education initiatives that solve food insecurity, such as community gardens to teach families to grow vegetables,” he said. For example, the company has given grants totaling more than $150,000 to Farming 4 Hunger, which hosts more than 5,000 volunteers, groups, individuals and families at Serenity Farm, and provides 26% of the fresh food that goes to the Maryland Food Bank.
“We want to go beyond providing food alone and work with our partners to solve the problem of food insecurity at its roots,” he said. This fall, the Wills Group employees volunteered during the fall harvest at Serenity Farm. “We like doing this kind of hands-on volunteering so our staff can see what our partners do up close and personal,” Wills said. “This can stir their support for our local causes.”
A second major focus of its Community Engagement is the Reimagining Outdoor Spaces program.
The above was excerpted from the article “A Legacy of Community Engagement” featured in the December issue of NACS Magazine. Read the full article and others in the digital December issue.
Sarah Hamaker is a freelance writer, NACS Magazine contributor and romantic suspense author based in Fairfax, Virginia. Visit her online at sarahamakerfiction.com