Richmond Meijer donates to Liberty Place, Eastern Scholar House

Jan. 6—Richmond Meijer donated $5,000 each to the Eastern Scholar House and the Liberty Place Recovery Center for Women.

On Wednesday, the local Store Director Bill Thompson and Human Resource Representative Erin Hoskins took a tour of both facilities and presented the checks to officials of the programs.

Hoskins said their store location in Richmond gathered together to discuss which non-profits they would choose to benefit from their philanthropic donation.

"We conducted some team member meetings and started out as just trying to get ideas of what organizations people thought of, that they wanted to help, that don't often have help," Hoskins said. "We are trying to make sure people get help and we spread the message: 'We are here.' The second meeting there was someone who said, 'You know, there is a place here in town who helps people who are single, and I can't remember the name.' So we started researching that and found the Scholar House."

After securing a location which helped both single parents and kids, they wanted to try to support an organization which helps people who are going through a "rough time in life."

According to Hoskins, a Meijer employee then suggested, Liberty Place.

Hoskins said Meijer had received a request from the recovery center already, and since they were in the running, Liberty Place was chosen.

Both Liberty Place and Eastern Scholar House are both affiliated with the Kentucky River Foothills Development Council.

The Scholar House is located on Eastern Kentucky University's property, and provides a long-term land lease which also includes access to services and amenities for single-parent families who are enrolled in school in Kentucky. The program provides 39 households in eastern and central Kentucky with access to housing and child development services while the parent works towards getting a degree.

Liberty Place Recovery Center for Women is a long-term substance abuse recovery program for women. This program provides support and hope for women recovering from substance use disorder.

This 108-bed residential substance abuse recovery center is centrally located on Lake Street in Richmond. Liberty Place works to restore opportunities to women by preparing them to lead sober, stable and productive lives. Services provided are free of charge to clients.

This donation was a part of national plans by Meijer to give nearly $3 million to the people and communities it serves across the Midwest during a first-ever donation that engaged its store and distribution facility team members to identify and select the nonprofits because of their local ties.

Earlier this fall, Meijer team members in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin formed a diverse committee at each store and distribution facility to nominate a local nonprofit organization or two for consideration of a fall donation. Each store and distribution facility could award one local nonprofit $10,000 or two nonprofits $5,000 apiece in the Meijer Team Gives donation program; the funds will be distributed following Giving Tuesday, which is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving where individuals nationwide are encouraged to give back to a nonprofit of their choice.

In a press release from Meijer, Rick Keyes, President and CEO of Meijer said, "At Meijer, we care about the communities we serve and follow a simple philosophy set by our founders — to take care of our customers, team members and community and all of them will take care of you, just like a family. Our team members are a crucial part of this so, as we show our support this holiday season, we wanted to invite them to play a larger role in our giving culture."

Earlier this fall, Meijer team members in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin formed a diverse committee at each store and distribution facility to nominate a local nonprofit organization or two for consideration of a fall donation. Each store and distribution facility could award one local nonprofit $10,000 or two nonprofits $5,000 apiece in the Meijer Team Gives donation program; the funds will be distributed following Giving Tuesday, which is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving where individuals nationwide are encouraged to give back to a nonprofit of their choice.

Some stores organized their committee by including a team member from each department while others asked for volunteers or invited those who regularly contribute to their community to participate. They nominated organizations that were personally meaningful, made an impact in their community or served an overlooked part of their local population. They spoke to local organizations to learn more and found ways to stretch the donation further by identifying match opportunities. Some stores and distribution facilities even opened the nominations up for the entire store to vote.