Parker’s Donates $77,688 to Lowcountry Food Bank through Inaugural Round-Up Charitable Giving Campaign

Staff Report

Wednesday, November 16th, 2022

As part of an ongoing commitment to give back to the community and to be a force for positive change, Parker’s recently donated $77,688 to Lowcountry Food Bank through the company’s inaugural round-up campaign, which encouraged customers to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar.

Parker’s customers in South Carolina donated $62,157 over a four-month period, with Parker’s matching 25% of each customer donation. All proceeds in South Carolina were administered through the Parker’s Community Fund, which supports area 501(c)3 organizations dedicated to making a positive, measurable impact in key focus areas, including education, healthcare and hunger. All round-up proceeds in Georgia were donated to the America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, with an additional 25% match from Parker’s.

“At Parker’s, we think it’s extremely important to give back to the communities that have supported us over the years and to do our part to help reduce hunger in the Lowcountry,” said Parker’s founder and CEO Greg Parker. “We are incredibly grateful to our customers in South Carolina for their generosity during our inaugural round-up campaign and want to continue to be a force for positive change.”

Headquartered in Charleston, S.C., the Lowcountry Food Bank serves more than 200,000 food-insecure individuals every year through strong relationships with nearly 300 community partners, including a network of food pantries, on-site meal programs, school programs, senior programs, veteran’s groups and shelters. The non-profit’s dedicated staff works to equitably distribute food across the 10 coastal counties in South Carolina, providing fresh fruits and vegetables, shelf-stable food, equipment, nutrition materials and food safety training.

Founded in 2021, the Parker's Community Fund was created by a generous donation from Parker’s founder and CEO Greg Parker and Parker’s. Grants are currently being awarded to qualifying nonprofit organizations throughout coastal Georgia and South Carolina. Parker’s provided funding for Union Mission in Savannah, Ga. to open the Parker House for Women, the first facility for unaccompanied homeless women in the region. Known for its longstanding commitment to charitable giving, Parker’s is one of the most generous companies in the convenience store industry and in the Southeast.

In recent years, Parker’s endowed the Parker’s Emergency and Trauma Center at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, Ga., and made a record $5 million donation to the Parker College of Business at Georgia Southern University, supporting the next generation of business leaders in Georgia. In addition, the company’s acclaimed Fueling the Community charitable giving initiative donates a percentage of gas sold at all Parker’s locations on the first Wednesday of each month to area schools.

Parker’s stands apart as one of America’s most respected convenience store brands and is known for having the cleanest stores in the industry. Headquartered in Savannah, Ga., Parker’s has enjoyed steady 20 to 24 percent annual growth every year for the past 23 years and has been featured six times on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The company also offers an acclaimed Parker’s Rewards program, which saves customers time and money at the pump as well as in the store.

In 2020, Parker’s was named the Convenience Store Chain of the Year by Convenience Store Decisions, which is the industry’s highest honor. The company has been honored by Food and Wine as one of America’s Best Convenience Stores and by Convenience Store News as the Convenience Foodservice Leader of the Year.

Since its founding in 1976, Parker’s has grown to become an award-winning company that was recently voted one America’s #3 gas station brand by USA TODAY readers. The Parker’s Rewards loyalty program, which includes more than 300,000 members, has saved customers more than $15 million to date. Parker’s employs more than 1,200 individuals throughout South Carolina and Georgia and completes more than 125,000 transactions daily.