Since '85, Kroger's Been There For School46

By Dana Hunsinger

Posted: June 2, 2010

In a run-down shack next door to School 46, seedy adults lurked about doing things no child should ever see.

But the shack also had become a magnet for students, who either didn't want to go home or didn't want to go to school. They would sneak inside and hang out.

The school knew it was a problem, but what could it do? How could it keep its children safe and make sure they never happened upon the drugs and crime?

In stepped a seemingly unlikely partner -- a supermarket.

The Kroger Co. bought the land, tore down the shack and built a new house on the property. It then sold the home and gave the profit to the school.

A noble gesture, and yet really nothing compared to everything else the grocer has done in what may be the best example in Indianapolis of a company digging in and truly making a difference in the lives of children.

Not just with money. Not just with time. Not just with gifts.

With all of the above -- for 25 years. And not for its bottom line.

"This is not going to get people to buy groceries. It's not about that at all,"
said Daniel McQuiston, chairman of the department of marketing and management at Butler University. "It's about doing good. It has been said that it is far more noble to invest greatly in the welfare of one than slightly in the welfare of many."

And invest greatly in one school -- School 46 -- is exactly what Kroger has done.

More than $1 million has been donated in 25 years to this Near-Westside school where 90 percent of the students are in the free- or reduced-price lunch program. Thousands of hours in employee time have been spent inside the school.

You can read the rest of this story here.

If you'd like to see even more examples of the great things Kroger and its employees do for our community, drop by Second Helpings and learn about the great partnership we have with Kroger.