Administration

Penn State names The GIANT Company as Corporate Partner of the Year

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has named supermarket retailer The GIANT Company as its 2021 Corporate Partner of the Year in recognition of the company’s longstanding philanthropic relationship with the University. This award celebrates corporate partners that have demonstrated exceptional commitment in promotion and support of Penn State, excellent track records of philanthropy and research, and active engagement of students and alumni in the workplace and the classroom.

“Over more than 40 years, The GIANT Company has built a robust partnership with Penn State, especially Penn State Health,” said Penn State President Eric J. Barron. “They have shown a tremendous commitment to the well-being of the communities they serve, and in doing so, they have helped the University to achieve its goals of impacting the world through an emphasis on human health. I am grateful for their generosity and look forward to seeing this partnership continue to develop in the years to come.”

The GIANT Company serves millions of customers across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The omni-channel retailer employs more than 35,000 team members supporting nearly 190 stores, 132 pharmacies, 107 fuel stations, and over 150 online pickup hubs, as well as grocery delivery service in hundreds of zip codes.

This year's Nurses Week was sponsored by GIANT and included gratitude and snack carts for nurses and hospital staff. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

The company has directed most of its support to Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The GIANT Company is the top corporate donor to Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), with 25 years of support that has included sponsoring the annual CMN telethon and other fundraising events and running in-store campaigns offering customers various ways to support CMN at the check-out register.

In 2020, the company committed $1 million to CMN to fund a community car seat safety program in which Penn State Health Children’s Hospital community health educators conduct safety checks and provide new seats when needed; to underwrite a K-12 wellness initiative that assesses schools’ nutrition programs and provides tailored resources for improvement; and to support the three-floor expansion of Penn State Health Children’s Hospital.

In conjunction with its 95th anniversary in 2018, The GIANT Company funded a 3D heart model printing program for pediatric patients with congenital heart disease. During the onset of COVID-19, The GIANT Company responded to the challenge of the pandemic with a gift of $50,000 to the Penn State Health COVID-19 Assistance Fund; they also donated personal protective equipment to the health system and more than $22,000 of in-kind gifts of product and flowers to frontline workers in honor of National Nurses Week and National Hospitals Week.

“Through their many years of support, The GIANT Company has demonstrated a strong commitment to pioneering new research discoveries, advancing patient care, and supporting frontline health care workers,” said Steve Massini, chief executive officer of Penn State Health. “This has been a truly remarkable partnership. Not only has the company provided direct philanthropic support to many Penn State Health initiatives; they have also leveraged their presence within our communities to inspire thousands of individuals to support some of those initiatives — for example, through the CMN telethon and check-out register campaigns. This shows the power of partnerships at multiple levels, and we are proud to work alongside The GIANT Company to strengthen the health and well-being of our region.”

“At The GIANT Company, our purpose of connecting families for a better future guides everything we do, and that’s especially true when it comes to our philanthropic giving. To truly change the world, we purposely seek out like-minded partners, organizations that share our focus on families, and Penn State is one such partner,” said Nicholas Bertram, president of The GIANT Company. “We’re incredibly proud of our longstanding partnership with Penn State and equally as grateful for our team members, customers, and suppliers for their continued generosity when it comes to supporting Penn State Health Children’s Hospital. Together, we really are making the difference in the lives of families across the region and strengthening the communities we serve for the next generation.”

Previous Penn State Corporate Partners of the Year include Erie Insurance, Ernst & Young, Schlumberger, AB Volvo, United Technologies Corp., General Electric, Chevron, Toshiba/Westinghouse, Dow Chemical, Boeing, Highmark, PNC, Barnes and Noble, Lockheed Martin and Bank of America.

Support from these and other corporate partners will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of organizations, alumni, friends and parents, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu

Last Updated October 14, 2021