From left, Tracy Thompson, store manager of Save Mart #551 at 4348 S. Carson St., Daniel McKnight, Save Mart assistant store manager, Joyce Buckingham, executive director of the Ron Wood Family Resource Center, and Chris Benson, store manager of Save Mart #552, gather for Save Mart's check donation to the Ron Wood Center Friday.
Carson City’s Save Mart No. 552 at North Carson Street on Friday donated $4,306 to the Ron Wood Family Resource Center. Proceeds collected from a successful season of collecting extra dollars from customers at checkout through the store’s TARE pad.
Save Mart’s TARE pad program, a “Give, Share, Care” TARE pad in all of Save Mart’s stores, goes to any of the area’s local food banks, or in this case, the Ron Wood Center’s Food Bank, according to North Carson store manager Chris Benson.
He said an extra activity was added by providing prefilled bags of food to the community this year to help local residents store goods in their pantries. Customers could purchase paper bags for $12 or $20 depending on size and they came with items filled with macaroni and cheese, applesauce, peanut butter, tuna and other storable goods that might be donated to the local food bank if customers desired, according to Benson, who provided the check to the Ron Wood Center on Friday. The program works in conjunction with both of Carson City’s Save Mart stores, including No. 551 at 4348 S. Carson St.
The grocery retailer also chose Ron Wood because of its dedication to serving local families.
“I think it’s helpful for people who are in need,” Benson said. “We got the opportunity to tour the facility and they do some amazing things from child seats and cars, I remember that program, to counseling and family needs and different things. So it’s nice to be able to partner with an organization that helps out in the community.”
Ron Wood executive director Joyce Buckingham said the program’s partnership with Save Mart is ongoing for all of its annual activities.
“Save Mart has been a wonderful partner,” she said. “Every year around the holidays, the need is extreme. They’re always the first to step up. ‘What can we do?’ Whether it’s the peanut butter drive, whatever it is, we do a lot of things with them year-round.”