BGC Named T.B. Butler Award Recipient
Regional grocery chain Brookshire Grocery Co. (BGC) was honored last week with the T.B. Butler Award as Tyler, Texas’ most outstanding citizen for 2012-13.
Presented by the T.B. Butler Publishing Co., the award was established in memory of the company's founder, the late Judge T.B. Butler, and his son, the late Tom Butler Jr. Award recipients are selected for outstanding contributions in leadership, service or community improvements.
With its World War II Heroes Flights, BGC has taken 195 World War II veterans to Washington D.C. to tour the capitol and World War II memorial. The company will soon leave on its seventh trip.
“World War II veterans are our greatest generation and they are our true heroes. To be there with them and hear their stories is something very special,” said BGC Chairman of the Board Brad Brookshire, whose grandfather, Wood T. Brookshire, opened a small store on Sept. 1, 1928 in downtown Tyler. “Our company has been in business for 85 years because my grandfather believed in having the very best people. On behalf of our many partners, employees at Brookshire Grocery Company, we are honored to accept this award.”
“This year’s T.B. Butler Award recipient truly meets the test of the best attributes of leadership, generosity and focus of purpose,” said Nelson Clyde, publisher of the Tyler Morning Telegraph and president of the T.B. Butler Publishing Co. “Our recipient has called Tyler home for many generations. The impact it has had on the daily lives of Tylerites may arguably be the most consistent and necessary of any longtime member of the community.”
BGC is engaged with local communities through the Community Connections program. Volunteers have logged 38,000 hours so far in 2013, assisting schools and nonprofit groups. It also hosts the Spirit of Christmas Food Drive, and in 2013, Brookshire’s Benefit Golf Tournament raised a record-breaking $440,000 for children’s charities.
Brookshire Grocery Co. operates 152 supermarkets in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.