“I am so proud that we were able to reach our donation goal, and I cannot thank our customers enough,” says Enmark vice president and general manager.
During the month of May, Enmark Stations, Inc. raised $76,097 by selling paper balloon icons in all 59 of its retail stores in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, and holding two “Full-Service Fridays” locally in Savannah, Ga.
The funds raised from these efforts were graciously donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2014 Light The Night Walk.
The company exceeded its aggressive goal to raise $75,000 in support of LLS’s mission to cure blood cancer and help patients and their families. This is a $10,000 increase over the $65,000 they raised in 2013.
The paper balloon icons could be purchased for $1 and were displayed on surfaces inside the Enmark stations. In addition to the paper icons sales, Enmark Stations held two Full-Service Fridays on May 9 and May 23 at popular Savannah stations. Customers were invited to pull into the Enmark Store, where members of the Enmark management team pumped gas, wiped windows and handed out coupons for car washes for donations.
Houstoun Demere, vice president/general manager of Enmark, having lost his mother to leukemia at an early age, felt an obligation to help this nonprofit organization. “Thanks to our generous customers, our company was able to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s efforts to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life for the patients and their families. I am so proud that we were able to reach our donation goal, and I cannot thank our customers enough. I hope we will continue this tradition in the coming years,” he said.
In the beginning of this year, Enmark was honored with the National Partner Award from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for its outstanding fundraising support in the 2013 Light The Night Walk campaign, when Enmark raised an incredible $65,648.
Savannah’s 2014 Light The Night Walk was held Friday, Oct. 17 in Forsyth Park. During the event, walkers carried illuminated balloon along the walk route. Each balloon signified how the carrier was affected by blood cancer. Cancer patients and survivors carried white balloons as “lights of hope,” supporters carried red balloons and those walking in remembrance of someone carried gold balloons.