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Kings for Kids: Kotzebue customers help local store support youth charity

June 22nd 1:27 pm | Hannah Heimbuch Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Kotzebue's Alaska Commercial store is leading the pack this year for the AC's annual Kings for Kids fundraiser that supports the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Each year AC stores around the state sell paper king salmon for a dollar apiece, sending their grand total to MDA to help send Alaska kids with muscular dystrophy to summer camp in Anchorage.

Usually, Kotzebue's smaller customer base doesn't sell as many as the larger locations in say Barrow, Nome or Bethel.

Not this year.

So far the Kotz AC has sold more than 1400 paper fish. That's more than any other store in the state, and almost triple what they sold last year.

AC front end manager Thomas Slease said they were determined to take their good-natured competition with the other stores up a notch, all in the name of a good cause.

"The support we have gotten from the community really has been huge," Slease said. "Kotzebue has really come together to show their support and prove that although Kotzebue may be small we are still capable of generously competing with much larger communities."

The fundraiser takes place through the month of June, and each year the company tries to out-sell its previous paper-king donations. The company goal this year is $10,000, and they're expected to exceed it by the end of June. Last year they raised about $6,000 statewide.

These fundraisers are one of the ways the AC stores stay connected to the health of rural Alaska communities, said Alan McCollor, AC's Store's Training Specialist and Community Involvement Coordinator.

"It's a great community, and it's all about the customers," McCollor said. "We put the programs out there but it's the customer that really gets behind it."

Fundraising for organizations like the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and in other fundraisers the American Diabetes Association, gives AC and its customer base an avenue for supporting healthier communities, McCollor said.

"Quality of life," he said. "We want to build that out there in the communities, not just sell groceries."

State stores raised $30,000 last year for the American Diabetes Association.

Being one of the few businesses in many of their communities, McCollor said, AC is in a unique position to spread important information. Whether it's dispersing flyers in grocery bags with health tips or giving away toothbrushes to kids, they try to advocate for health and wellness in a variety of ways.

Slease said one of the ways they helped boost sales was to go around to local businesses that donated money and raffle items. Bering Air donated two tickets to be raffled off, with every fish sold earning its purchaser a place in the drawing.

Each month and at other specific times of the year, AC gives its individual locations discretionary funds to use for local charities, such as Boys and Girls Clubs or the Big Brother Big Sister Program.

"(We support) organizations that enrich our communities," McCollor said. "You win by awareness."

2012 is AC's 145th year in business in Alaska, and operates 30 stores around the state.

Hannah Heimbuch can be reached at hheimbuch@reportalaska.com.

 

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