Last week Wawa customers, associates, and community members gathered together in our Fredericksburg store, to celebrate the store’s 10th anniversary, and witness Wawa’s recommitment of vows to the Fredericksburg community. Customers and associates alike felt as though they had walked into a Wawa wedding, as our mascot, Wally Goose, greeted them in a tuxedo and top hat, opening the door to reveal a store filled with wedding-inspired decorations, including a gigantic coffee cup.
Milestone customers who had been frequenting the store since the day it opened were designated as Customers of Honor, walking down the aisle of the store, escorted by store associates with bouquets of coffee coupons in their hands, to the tune of The Wedding March. Our longest term associates, were designated the Associate of Honor, and were recognized for their tremendous contributions to store over the past ten years.
And perhaps most importantly, the Customers of Honor presented representatives from the Juvenile Diabetes Fund (JDRF) with a check for $85,000, symbolizing the in-store fundraising efforts from the third and fourth quarter of 2009.
Ok, so it wasn’t an actual wedding, the customers and associates weren’t part of an actual wedding party, and the check wasn’t a generous wedding gift. It was, however, our very own version of a recommitment ceremony, and our way of showing Fredericksburg that we are dedicated to continuing to invest in their community for years to come. It was our chance to thank our customers and associates for their loyalty and business throughout the years, and to toast the community not only for their patronage, but for their tremendous fundraising efforts throughout the years.
The Fredericksburg anniversary kicked off our 2010 Wawaversary celebrations all of which will take this theme. In 2010, Wawa will celebrate the Year of Value and Values, and our six core values will serve as the vows that we will renew in each of these Wawaversary celebrations. The changes in theme and format are fun and invigorating but we can already tell the most meaningful change is the involvement of our local charity partner. It felt almost "natural" for us to add this component into this type of celebration because helping the community is such a big part of who we are and what our customers stand for.
Shea Seagle, Special Events Coordinator for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Central Virginia, shared her feelings about the long history between Wawa and the JDRF.
“JDRF is most appreciative of its strong relationship with Wawa - it's an exemplary partnership - it demonstrates how a non-profit organization and corporation should and can work together,” said Seagle. “We were very honored and appreciative of the opportunity to be involved in last week's Wawaversary and their celebration of their commitment to the community, as well as a celebration of the dollars they raised for diabetes research.”
So thank you to the Fredericksburg community and to all our loyal customers, associates, and charity partners throughout our five-state area. Throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, we renew our vows to our communities and reaffirm the mutual feeling of loyalty, friendship, and support that bind our store to the community and our associates to our customers.
‘Til Next Time…