To read the full version of this article, visit the May issue of NACS Magazine at www.nacsmagazine.com.

NACS and the American Red Cross have teamed up to advance community giving and disaster relief programs for NACS member companies with the launch of a retailer in-store Customer Donation Kit. This new program is designed to help convenience store companies—in particular smaller operators with one to five stores—and their customers connect with a nationwide cause.

Each co-branded NACS/Red Cross donation kit is free to NACS members and provides materials for display and collection of donations in convenience stores. The pre-assembled kit contains the following NACS/Red Cross branded items for one store:

• Engaging Employees in Partnership Activation Handbook (1)
• Point of Purchase Signs (2 per kit)
• Barcodes/UPC codes for each register (2 per kit)
• Employee Buttons (2 per kit)
• Customer "I donated!" card for display (200 per kit)
• Marketing Collateral Signage

In June 2017, NACS became the first retail-focused association to partner with the Red Cross, which enables both organizations to develop resources that facilitate donation collection by convenience store companies, as well as encourage volunteer assistance programs for Red Cross volunteers around specific local or national events. NACS retailer and supplier members were credited with donating more than $17 million in disaster relief to the Red Cross in the weeks immediately after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Convenience stores are in every community in the United States and are often the only retailer open in times of episodic events.

Information about the donation program and the partnership between NACS and the Red Cross is at www.convenience.org/RedCross.