Russell Warren, a senior in public relations,: hands his donation card to a Winn-Dixie cashier, supporting the organization Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Morgan Thacker / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
Winn-Dixie shoppers can purchase more than just food this month — they can purchase something that will make a difference in a hurricane victim’s life.
Winn-Dixie has implemented its Neighbors Helping Neighbors program and is collecting donations from customers as they check out.
Lewis Haywood, store director of the Winn-Dixie on South College Street, said all customers have to do is fill out a card at the register with the amount they want to donate.
The card is then scanned, Haywood said, and the amount of donation is added to the customer’s total. Customers can donate anywhere from 50 cents to $500, said Patrick McSweeney, a spokesman for Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.
Haywood said the donations go directly to the American Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Fund.
Beth Witten, the development officer for Lee County Red Cross, said the national disaster relief fund is depleted.
“The reason is the enormous amount of responses we had to attend to over the past year: California wildfires, floods in the Midwest and the hurricanes of 2008,” Witten said.
Haywood said Winn-Dixie instigates Neighbors Helping Neighbors as part of a disaster protocol.
“They implement it as soon as something major happens, such as a hurricane,” Haywood said.
This time, Neighbors Helping Neighbors will take place Sept. 15-30.
“Following the hurricanes this past season, Winn-Dixie immediately started Neighbors Helping Neighbors to help raise money for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief services,” McSweeney said.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors has been a great success in the past, McSweeney said, partnering with the American Red Cross year after year to provide help at the community level.
The decision to implement the program was made at the executive level, McSweeney said, and all 521 Winn-Dixie stores are collecting donations.
Haywood said donations will be especially high from Winn-Dixie shoppers in the New Orleans area, who have experienced the trauma of a hurricane firsthand.
Winn-Dixie not only collects donations, but makes contributions of its own, McSweeney said.
Following a hurricane in New Orleans, for example, the company loaded a semi-truck with ice and delivered boxes of ice to families in the area.
“Winn-Dixie is very involved in the community and looks for ways to become more involved,” McSweeney said.
Donating at Winn-Dixie is not the only way Lee County residents can help the Red Cross.
Witten said contributions can be made directly to the Lee County Red Cross in Opelika.
Those who want to help can go to the Red Cross’ office, make a contribution over the phone or make an online donation, Witten said.
People can also volunteer and donate blood.
“But due to the depletion of the Disaster Relief Fund, financial assistance is the best way to help,” Witten said.
Witten said making a financial donation can be as easy as sending a text message. Interested donors with a cellular phone can text “give” to 2help, and a $5 donation is added to their cell phone bill.
“All of our stores are in the Southeast, which is hurricane central,” Haywood said. “We understand the suffering and the consequences of those hurricanes.”
Haywood said collecting donations for the devastated victims of hurricanes is one of Winn-Dixie’s top priorities.
