Local grocery store chain Bashas’ raised $2.5 million for local charities in the last year through its Charity of the Month program.
Bashas’ distributed the money to 34 participating charities including Hospice of the Valley, Child Crisis Arizona and Arizona Humane Society among others, according to a news release.
The program has been in existence for more than 20 years in a formal capacity but has been donating in various ways since the company’s founding in 1932. Since then, the business has raised over $100 million in support of philanthropic causes.
“Giving back to local nonprofits and supporting the work they do has been a mainstay of our company for generations,” the chain’s owner Edward Basha in a news release.
The program shifted strategies in November 2019 when it became available on the pin pad of most registers in Bashas’ 100 stores. Prior to this update, cashiers had to individually ask customers to support causes.
“It makes it easier on our members and employees and easier on the customers as well,” said Ashley Shick, Bashas’ director of communications and public affairs.
Using this technology, the grocer is also able to change the message on their pin pads each month based on the charity it’s supporting.
“There is a mission around each month. There are some months within our platform that there is one nonprofit. There are other months where there are multiple nonprofits and beneficiaries that are all doing work in the same space,” explained Shick.
The missions of each month are targeted not only to certain organizations but also themes. In April 2021, Bashas’ partnered with Child Crisis Arizona, an organization dedicated to helping children in the foster care system, in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
A key part of the organization’s mission is to both help those who have been abused and neglected, and also prevent further child abuse and neglect, according to Torre Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona.
“The money we received from Bashas’ and Child Abuse Prevention Month allows us to do prevention program and family education for parents,” Taj said. “They allow us to provide safe shelter and sleep for children and youth in our shelter programs.”
“There are a lot of national grocery stores that do this program. But they pick national charities. And why we love this program is because Bashas’ supports local charities,” Taj said.
Bashas’ charities guidelines require companies to be 501(c)(3) non-profit, companies recognized by the IRS. Charities must also serve communities in Arizona and New Mexico.
Another charity that has benefited from this program is the Arizona Humane Society. The group has maintained a partnership with AJ’s Fine Foods and Bashas’ intermittently since 2007 and continuously since 2015.
The organization earned nearly $60,000 in 2021, and $200,000 overall since the partnership began, according to an AHS spokesperson.
The Arizona Humane Society said all the money goes to a good cause, according to an email statement released to the Downtown Devil.
“As a private nonprofit, AHS does not receive funding from the government or other animal welfare organizations and relies solely on donations to operate,” the statement said. The facility estimates that donations are able to help save roughly 1,500 sick and injured animals in the Valley.
The Charity of the Month program fits into a long-standing trend of charitable giving by the grocery store chain.
In 2020, Bashas’ also formalized the Grocery Rescue Program. Every local store partners with a Feeding America food bank or smaller nonprofit organization to donate their still good-to-eat food to local families that need it. In 2021, the group diverted over 1.8 million pounds of food to various organizations through this program. Bashas’ also donated roughly $580,000 to St. Vincent de Paul for the Bashas’ thanksgiving drive — Turkey Tuesday.
Turkey Tuesday celebrates its 30-year anniversary this year. However Bashas’ has been philanthropic throughout its nearly 90-year existence.
“It is something we have been doing since the beginning of time,” Shick said. “Because it was part of the founding families’ identity and that has trickled and grown over the last nine decades.”
Contact the reporter at pdalal6@asu.edu.
