SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Retail Merchants Association today launched “Illinois Retail Cares,” a campaign designed to showcase the initiatives put in place by retailers of all types and sizes including restaurants across the state in order to support their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From donating food to frontline and healthcare workers to establishing food drives to help vulnerable members of the communities, retailers across the state are pioneering new ways to care for Illinoisans. These initiatives are in addition to the many changes essential retailers have put in place to meet the unprecedented demand in goods while providing safe shopping and working experiences in accordance with social distancing requirements.
Examples of retailers providing assistance to Illinois communities include:
- Prisco’s Family Market in Aurora created a food drive in support of the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry and Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry and offered to match the first $2,000 in donations. Since April 18th, they have raised $18,000.
- Casey’s General Stores partnered with Feeding America® to provide meals to school-aged children and their families.
- Lowe’s donated disinfectants, hand sanitizer and masks to police and firefighters as well as to hospital workers and maintenance crews in the Chicagoland area.
- McDonald’s USA donated $250,000 to the “Saving Ourselves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort,” in response to the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on African Americans.
- Tony’s Fresh Market’s Charitable Foundation and the Western Union Foundation donated $100,000 to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund, which provides access to essential goods and services such as food and healthcare supplies.
“When faced with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers have been there to provide direct relief to the people and communities they serve. We applaud their exceptional work, which comes at a time when they have made necessary changes to accommodate the record demand for goods and provide safe shopping experiences for everyone that steps into their stores. Illinois’ retail community will continue to provide essential services while we all work to overcome this pandemic and will be instrumental in our recovery once we come out the other side,” said Rob Karr, president & CEO, Illinois Retailer Merchants Association.
To learn more about the initiatives retailers large and small have implemented across Illinois, please visit https://irma.org/.
About the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA)
One of the largest state retail organizations in the United States, IRMA serves as the voice of retailing and the business community in state government. Founded in 1957, IRMA represents more than 23,000 stores of all sizes and merchandise lines. From the nation’s largest retailers to independent businesses in every corner of the state, merchants count on IRMA to fight for the best possible environment in which to do business in Illinois.