Las Vegas, NV – The National Grocers Association (NGA) honored Minnesota-based grocery chain Cub Foods with this year’s Peter J. Larkin Community Service Award during today’s Opening Session of the 2022 NGA Show, Sunday, Feb. 27, at the Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Cub Foods and its pharmacy team were recognized for their efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations in Minnesota.
“The Cub Foods pharmacy team truly exemplified what this award is about by going the extra mile, including donating their personal time, to take care of their local community by helping ensure vaccines got into the arms of the local community, the elderly and first responders,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO. “The commitment of their team members, who were on the ground in the stores to go the extra mile for their community, really resonated with the award review committee and reinforced the important role independent grocers play in their communities.”
Cub’s pharmacy team worked tirelessly throughout 2021 to administer vaccinations throughout Minnesota. The team worked closely with the Minnesota Department of Health, whose officials said Cub played a pivotal role in the early vaccination of teachers last winter and has been very active in the state’s mission of health equity, declaring Cub to be Minnesota’s “strongest pharmacy partner, bar none.”
When booster shots became available, the Minnesota governor’s office and the state’s Department of Health requested that Governor Tim Walz, former Governor Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm receive their boosters from Cub Pharmacy at the Northside Community Center in Minneapolis.
Cub provided drive-up flu and COVID vaccination clinics, helped vaccinate professional and college athletes, and set up pop-up vaccination clinics at the sporting events to vaccinate fans.
Notably, Cub team members donated their personal time to administer vaccines outside the pharmacy, including long-term care homes and senior housing. They rallied to get a National Guard unit vaccinated in a day to make sure they were able to take care of their duties for deployment. They continue to organize events and clinics to assist in vaccinating all age groups eligible for the shot.
“Commitment to community is typical of independent community grocers, but Cub’s effort to lead the charge in a public health crisis goes above and beyond,” Ferrara said. Cub Foods’ delegation to the NGA Show accepted the award, led by Director of Pharmacy Aaron Sapp and Manager of Clinical Services Erin Suomala.
The creation of this award, named in honor of NGA’s former president and CEO and sponsored by Kimberly-Clark, was announced during the 2019 NGA Show as a way to recognize an independent retailer or wholesaler company for their unique and strong service to the community during the previous year.
“I’m honored to congratulate Cub Foods as the recipient of this year’s Peter Larkin Award for Community Service for all they do every day to serve their communities,” said Denny Belcastro, Kimberly-Clark VP of industry affairs and customer development. “Kimberly-Clark is proud to support such an important award.”
Belcastro also announced the continuation of Kimberly-Clark’s partnership with NGA member retailers to donate diapers for needy families to the National Diaper Bank Network, established by Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies brand in 2011. Since then, the network has contributed more than 250 million diapers, and the network has grown to over 200 banks across the country, serving 200,000 children each month.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with the National Grocers Association and its independent retailer members,” Belcastro said. “Diaper need is a critical issue in the U.S., affecting one in three families.”
