Wawa's Fly Beyond program is using nutrition to help kids and communities thrive
When you think of a hoagie, it's impossible not to think of Wawa! It's a place that we have all come to love. Wawa's commitment to serving has deep family roots beginning as a steel foundry. This family-owned business eventually revolutionized into a dairy farm. In 1902, located in Wawa, Pa., George Wood founded Wawa Dairy and bottled fresh milk products from certified cows. Serving the community by doorstep and eventually opening their first storefront 60 years ago.
This proves how Wawa has constantly raised to the occasion to meet the needs of the community and they are doing it in such a way that they are flying beyond what is seen, to feed those in need. Wawa's purpose is fulfilling lives every day and it's something that they do through associates and support for the community. The foundation is an extension of just that with Wawa's focus areas being health, hunger, and everyday heroes. The Wawa Foundation was the formality of outing their purpose into action in order to reach those in a multitude of ways.
One way Wawa is doing so is through its "Fly Beyond" program. This program is dedicated to providing additional access to fresh and nutritious food to underserved youth. It was piloted in 2023 alongside Second Harvest of Central Florida. They are supported by Wawa and the Wawa Foundation to combat food insecurity to underserved youth. The three major initiatives of Fly Beyond include: Second Harvest of Central Florida initial Pilot Program for school Markets, Fly Beyond Key Issue Grants, including $1.5M distributed in 2024; and "Buy a Kids Meal, Make an Impact".
The Fly Beyond program eventually migrated its way home to Philly. Here, Wawa's Fly Beyond program has partnered with other local food banks and surrounding farms. One being Philabundance. Partnering with Philabundance has given Wawa's Fly Beyond program additional support in feeding the youth in different ways. Philabundance was recently granted $200,000 to relaunch its Healthy Snack Children's Program. They have after-school, backpack, and weekend programs. They truly strive to meet the needs of the entire family recognizing food insecurity is a major issue. Philabundance explained that 1 in 4 kids here in our city suffer from hunger. That is an astounding statistic.
But with these types of partnerships, stigmas are broken as they aim to feed and teach children in a fun way. The healthy snacks and meals received are packaged the same way as in store, these little details matter! Children are trying new foods, flavors, and textures!
September is Hunger Action Hunger Month. Wawa is proud to share the 29 food banks across their chain will receive Fly Beyond grants to provide access to fresh, nutritious food and healthy meals to underserved youth!
You can certainly get involved. To learn more about Wawa and The Wawa Foundation's Fly Beyond initiative, visit Wawa.com and scroll down to the "Wawa In Your Community," section!
