Being part of their community is
woven into the fabric of Big Y. From their earliest years, co-founders
Paul and Gerry D’Amour recognized the importance of giving back to those
less fortunate. Now, 78 years later, Big Y is still at the forefront of
giving to their community in all areas including, but not limited to,
education, health and hunger.
Some of Big Y’s education initiatives
include their merit scholarship program which awards almost $250,000 a year in
college scholarships to customers and employees. Their successful
Education Express program earned over $11million in free educational equipment
and supplies to over 2000 local schools. For over 25 years, their
Homework Helpline qualified teachers answered over 10,000 calls as they guided
students and their parents through difficult homework assignments.
For the past 3 years, Big Y has been
a key supporter of the University of Massachusetts Student Farm initiative
where student farmers learn about farming methods and then sell their local,
organic fruits and vegetables at two area Big Y supermarkets. In
addition, Big Y sells as much local produce from area farmers as possible
during the growing season and last year’s purchases exceeded $400,000.
Every October, Big Y’s Partners of
Hope initiative raises funds for breast cancer treatment and research.
Over 20 local programs benefit from this company-wide effort that continues to
grow each year, including institutions such as the D’Amour Center for Cancer Care at Baystate Medical
Center.
Big Y’s Sack Hunger program has provided over a half a
million pounds of food for the past 4 holiday seasons to those less
fortunate. And, every day product is shipped to Big Y’s five area food
banks for redistribution to local agencies.
