September has certainly seen H-E-B living up to its motto of “Helping Here” in the San Antonio community. Between the generosity of H-E-B customers and Partners, San Antonio has been injected with the H-E-B spirit of giving in the month of September through multiple state-wide company initiatives. At the beginning of the month, donations totaling over $540,000 were made to over 20 food banks across the state to “Help End Hunger”. H-E-B’s “Help End Hunger” campaign is unique because it is completely driven by the generosity of H-E-B and Central Market customers. The campaign encouraged customers to tear off a $1, $3, or $5 coupon to add to their final grocery bill at the check stand to benefit local food banks. In San Antonio alone, $67,000 was donated to the San Antonio food bank, all thanks to H-E-B customers that cared at the end of their trip to the grocery store.

H-E-B presents $67,000 to the San Antonio Food Bank through the Help End Hunger campaign

Next up to the plate in the San Antonio community were the H-E-B Partners that showed their appreciation for the courageous firefighters in their neighborhood during H-E-B’s ninth annual “Helping Heroes” initiative. In remembrance of the rescue teams that risked their lives during the attacks on the World Trade Center, over 832 H-E-B Partners visited their local fire stations on September 11th to pay tribute to the local Heroes that risk their life every day for their community. A total of 59 stores in the region participated, sending Partners over to their neighborhood station to pamper their local Heroes for the day. H-E-B Partners visiting the fire stations made home-cooked breakfasts and lunches for the fire rescue teams, and cleaned their stations from top to bottom. Anyone passing by fire stations on September 11^th could see Partners scrubbing fire trucks, mowing station lawns, sweeping, mopping, and grilling tasty lunches for the local firefighters. Through the H-E-B “Helping Heroes” initiative, Partners were able to show their appreciation for the daily acts of bravery performed by their local fire stations.

A group of H-E-B Partners adopt a local fire station for the day during Helping Heroes on September 11^th

H-E-B Partners lend a hand to help clean fire trucks during Helping Heroes

The end of this month highlights a special partnership of H-E-B and the community in helping to improve San Antonio children’s literacy. From September 18^th to October 1^st, H-E-B is hosting its “Read 3” event which includes a school book drive challenge, special reading events in all the stores, and free books given away when certain items are purchased at H-E-B.  Since the program’s inception in 2011, over 1.6 million books have been donated back to Texas communities through literacy non-profits, schools, public libraries, and Feast of Sharing dinners. In October, the H-E-B Family Literacy Workshops will begin their fall session of classes that expose children to early literacy skills and expose parents to information on how to support their children’s academic development. These Family Literacy Workshops are a product of a unique partnership of local school districts, H-E-B Partner volunteers, and local universities; the classes are free to all parent and child participants.  The school districts provide classroom space and lead teachers, as well as recruit families with young children who are not yet in formal schooling. The local universities provide students from the department of education who deliver the lessons to participants and are supervised by the district’s lead teacher. H-E-B provides the curriculum, the necessary school materials, Partners to help at each site, incentives for families that participate, and a graduation ceremony at the end of the sessions. The Read 3 program and Family Literacy Workshops are H-E-B’s way of empowering young children in the community with the gift of literacy and a passion for reading.

Craig Boyan, President and C-E-O of H-E-B, reads to a group of children at a local H-E-B for the Read 3 event in September