Top of the World

Imagine living atop your store for a week to raise money for charity. That's what Tony Klyne, manager of MaGrath Save-On Foods in Edmonton, did to help the city's food bank. Or how about commandeering boats to deliver supplies to people stranded by a hurricane's wrath, even before the Red Cross got there? Kevin Jacobs, manager of Newfoundland's Clarenville Co-op, did that after Hurricane Igor smashed through the province.

These were two of the many remarkable stories we heard from grocers who entered our 2011 Community Service Awards. They reminded us that, in addition to the 24/7 job of running a supermarket, so many of you are community leaders as well, making substantial commitments to raise money for a local hospital or giving school kids a hearty breakfast.

You can read these stories on the next few pages, where we feature this year's 10 Community Service Award finalists (in no particular order). They were selected by our panel of judges: George Condon, Canadian Grocer's consulting editor; James Fraser, partner at retail branding agency Hunter Straker; Agnieszka Rum, of the organization Canadian Business for Social Responsibility; and David Soberman, marketing professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. And stay tuned. Our November issue will showcase the four winning stores from among the finalists.