Dec. 3, 2019
By Elizabeth Walker, Walmart Corporate Affairs
This past summer, Walmart partnered with actress and advocate Jennifer Garner to issue a challenge to Walmart associates: You’re already doing awesome things in your communities – now showcase those awesome things on social media.
Every day, Walmart associates make a difference for nonprofit organizations or other members of their communities. From volunteering at schools to serving community meals at their churches, our associates bring light into the places they live and work. For the Walmart Associate Challenge, they were asked to tell us about these moments highlighting the difference our associates make in their neighborhoods. The 25 associates who demonstrated the most creative approaches to this challenge would get the opportunity to work with Walmart to recommend a nonprofit to receive a $10,000 grant.
Walmart is a part of about 11,000 neighborhoods around the globe. Walmart associates are diverse and creative, and so were their acts of good. All over the world, associates posted their acts of good in support of other people and organizations.
In the United Kingdom, Asda associate Sharon Kingwood shared how she volunteered all night at Kirkwood Hospice (and stayed awake 24 hours – wow!) while her family walked 10 miles and raised £1000 for the organization. The hospice had a special meaning for Sharon: It was where her father had spent his final days. Sharon wanted to do something special for the place that had given her family comfort and peace, and she wanted to tell the world what a difference the hospice had made in her life.
In the U.S., Irene Garcia raised money and designed kits for foster children. Each kit had a stuffed animal, crayons, a coloring book and a blanket. “One of my earliest memories was being taken from my mother. I remember an officer giving my siblings and I a teddy bear – it still amazes me that something that small a child can find comfort in.” Irene sharing her moving story of being placed in foster care was a way of bringing attention to a need in her community and demonstrating just one way to help address it.
What made these posts so special is the way Sharon and Irene used their own experiences and personalities – their “sparks” – to recognize a need for a particular group. These are just two examples, but they demonstrate something universal: Every Walmart associate has the power to make a difference, big or small, in their local communities.
Thank you to all who participated in the #WalmartAssociateChallenge. For a full list of selected associates, visit OneWalmart.
