We know Publix has a long-standing history of supporting our communities, but do you know how some of our longest community partnerships started? Read on to learn how we came to do good, together.

Special Olympics

One of our longest-running community partnerships dates to 1972, when Mr. George did something special for a group of athletes. He paid the airfare for the entire team of Florida Special Olympics athletes to attend the second World Games in Los Angeles. Since then, associates and customers have embraced our Light the Torch register campaign to support the Special Olympics’ mission of providing year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people with intellectual differences. We’re also proud of our more than 800 associates who are Special Olympics athletes.

United Way

Forty years ago, we launched our partnership with United Way. Mr. George believed in the strength of giving to United Way because the funds benefit multiple agencies, and the money stays in the community in which it was raised to meet the needs of our neighbors. From helping those with physical and mental disabilities to delivering meals to seniors, agencies supported by United Way make a visible impact in our communities. Our United Way campaign is special because it’s our only corporate campaign that’s supported entirely by you — our associates! With your support, we have consistently been one of United Way’s top donors.

Feeding America

As a food retailer, our single greatest opportunity to give back is in alleviating hunger. To make the biggest impact, we’ve partnered with Feeding America and its member food banks and agencies to provide food donations. In 2007, we piloted our perishable recovery program, which provides foods that are still wholesome, but no longer salable, to food banks throughout our communities. Two years later, the program expanded companywide and has provided more than 480 million pounds of food, equaling over 400 million meals, to Feeding America member food banks.

Learn about other organizations Publix supports on the community page of our corporate website.