Jay Ricker sponsored a tent for his Ricker’s am/pm convenience stores  just outside the State Fair’s grandstands and invited us to join him for two days. The storms held off and we helped am/pm provide cold beverages for over-heated fairgoers as well as sharing giveaways and information on all our programs.

A big thanks to Jay Ricker and Mike Jones for donating the space and coordinating the effort. That generosity goes a long way in helping us involve the community in our mission. We’d also like to thank all of the volunteers who helped us over the past two days. Time is a precious commodity and we appreciate that they share theirs with us.

We’ll be at the tent tonight until 10pm, so if you stop off for a corndog or an ear of corn near the grandstands, stroll over and grab a Gatorade from the folks at am/pm and say “hi”.

Jay Ricker presents Major Keith Welch with the final donations from their red kettle contest. Ricker's BP locations raised over $4,000 in this market for The Salvation Army.

Jay Ricker is serious about raising support for The Salvation Army. So much so that he put his employees up to a challenge. The BP am/pm store that collected the most money in their Salvation Army countertop kettles this Christmas season would win a two-hour visit with him. The challenge got competitive when the employees learned that Ricker would be visiting dressed as a clown, passing out free hotdogs to patrons.

We are so grateful for this unique and creative approach to inspiring giving. Out of the nearly 20 Ricker-owned BP am/pm stations in this market, the store at 52nd and Keystone topped all others by collecting nearly $575 this Christmas. And the total collected for these stores was just over $4,040! And that was just in our market – Ricker had at least three other stores to reward for their fundraising sucesses.

So, thank you to all of you who participated by dropping your change into the BP kettles. And thank you to the Ricker family and employees for hosting and competing in the challenge. Your contest helps us continue “doing the most good” for our neighbors who are struggling. And a special thanks to you, Mr. Ricker, for having the humility to dress up and the compassion for others that inspired this contest in the first place!

If you’d like to find new ways to be remarkable in your community, give Kristen Grills, Corporate Relations Director, a call at 224-1019. Together, we can make a difference right here in our city.