LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A group of 125 IGA retailers serving communities in the western United States today announced that they have joined forces with other IGA independent retailers across the country and Wounded Warrior Project TM (WWP) for an IGA Exclusive Brand cause marketing event. During this national campaign—running in participating IGA stores from Memorial Day Weekend (May 28) through Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3)—a number of WWP co-branded IGA Exclusive Brand products will be available for purchase. By fall of this year, IGA plans to donate up to $200,000 to WWP.
In 2011, $120,000 was donated to WWP in the name of IGA retailers. Sales from specially marked cases of IGA exclusive brand water during the promotional period resulted in a $100,000 donation. Kraft Foods also contributed in IGA's name an additional $20,000 resulting from the sale of popular Kraft beverage mixes.
For 2012, the IGA stores will make available specially marked cases of IGA bottled spring and drinking water, WWP-branded IGA hotdog and hamburger buns, and Kraft Foods beverage mixes from MiO, Crystal Light, Kool-Aid and Country Time.
To help further the campaign's efforts, the group of 125 IGA stores (located in Alaska, California, Montana, Washington and Wyoming) will be selling WWP checkstand donation cards for $1 that shoppers can sign and have posted for everyone to see. As the stores' walls fill with donation cards, the retailers hope that awareness of the campaign and the WWP will continue to grow within their communities.
"Our group of IGA retailers are very pleased to be able to use this IGA promotion to raise much-needed funding to help wounded service members with everything from physical health and wellness, counseling, family aid, and job assistance," said Dennis Darling, Owner, Susanville IGA, Susanville, CA.
According to WWP, nearly 48,000 of our nation's servicemen and women have been physically wounded during the current military conflicts, with hundreds of thousands more estimated to be recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and brain injuries. WWP assists injured service members and their families through a holistic approach to their recovery, providing programs and services to aid their physical rehabilitation and improving their mental health and well-being.
About IGA
The Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) is the world's largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $29 billion per year. The Alliance includes more than 5,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more than 50 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers known as IGA's Red Oval Family partners. IGA has operations in 46 of the United States and more than 30 countries, commonwealths and territories.
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About Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) is to honor and empower wounded warriors. WWP's purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.