QuikTrip is celebrating National Safe Place Week by continuing its support of the National Safe Place Network. QuikTrip has served as a Safe Place partner across its network of 1,100 stores nationwide for over 30 years.
Safe Place is a national youth outreach program for young people in need of immediate help and safety. Safe Place locations, identifiable by the distinctive yellow and black sign, provide access to immediate help and supportive resources for youth in need. The program designates schools, fire stations, libraries and other youth-friendly organizations including convenience stores as Safe Place locations.
Any youth in need can walk into a Safe Place location, ask for assistance and be connected to a local youth service agency for support. Youth seek Safe Place for many reasons, including:
- Experiencing abuse or neglect
- Facing homelessness
- Being trafficked
- Dealing with acute, unsafe family conflict
Over the last year, QuikTrip has facilitated 346 Safe Place calls nationally in partnership with its 22 Safe Place partner agencies across 19 states. QuikTrip also supports these organizations financially, helping to sustain their programming and outreach efforts.
“The safety of our employees, customers, and communities is QuikTrip’s top priority, and that’s why we are so proud to be a longstanding Safe Place partner,” said Lauren Sherry, QuikTrip community relations manager and National Safe Place Network board member. “For over 30 years, our partnership with the National Safe Place Network has allowed us to help thousands of young people in crisis find the safety and support they need to grow and succeed.”
Learn more about supporting National Safe Place.
Related community outreach efforts took place last month, when NACS and convenience retailers helped raise awareness about human trafficking during a February 1 event in New Orleans. The 16th annual Linking Freedom event was led by In Our Backyard (IOB), a leading national non-profit that is dedicated to the fight against sex and labor trafficking.
Linking Freedom is held each year in the host city of the Super Bowl. The event raises awareness, helps identify missing children in the host city, and empowers the community, survivors and local nonprofits in the fight against human trafficking. Every year, missing children and victims of human trafficking are recovered because of this collaborative effort.