Dollar General Awards $3M+ to Support Youth Education
Continuing its mission of serving others, Dollar General’s foundation arm has plans to award more than $3 million in grants to support 420,000-plus students attending nearly 800 schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations in the retailer’s operating communities. These funds aim to narrow the gap between learners’ needs and programs’ financial resources by providing books, technology, equipment or materials to youth education programs. A complete list of recipients can be found at www.dgliteracy.org.
“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s work to help individuals pursue their dreams and educational goals stands at the forefront of the foundation’s philanthropic passions, and we are proud to extend our ongoing commitment to support youth education through today’s grant announcement,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s CEO and Dollar General Literacy Foundation chairman. “We understand the challenges educators and literacy programs may face and are proud to invest in local literacy and education initiatives to further demonstrate our mission of Serving Others.”
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards grants each year to literacy organizations located within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center as part of its ongoing commitment to improve individuals’ lives through literacy and education. Applications for the 2023 Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant cycle supporting youth, family, summer and adult literacy programs will be available at www.dgliteracy.org in January 2023.
“During this back-to-school season, we are grateful for all of the educators, school officials, librarians, nonprofit partners and volunteers who are working hard to help students excel and creating brighter futures for this generation of learners,” said Denine Torr, Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s executive director. “We hope these funds will help provide needed resources, enhance educational programming, and position teachers and students for success.”
Today’s youth literacy grants add to the foundation’s $9.2 million awarded this spring to support adult, family and summer literacy programs. Founded in 1993, the DGLF has so far awarded more than $219 million to help nearly 16.1 million individuals improve their lives through literacy and education. The foundation was begun by former DG CEO Cal Turner Jr. in honor of his grandfather and DG co-founder, J.L. Turner, who was functionally illiterate.
Last month, the discount retailer revealed that it was donating $1 million to help fight food insecurity. Dollar General donated the large sum to Feeding America to mark its one-year partnership with the hunger relief organization.
Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General operated 18,566 stores in 47 states as of July 29. The company is No. 15 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
