GREEN BAY, Wis. -The Shopko Foundation announced that it has awarded grants totaling $79,800 during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 through its Green Bay Area and Community Charitable Grant Programs. The Shopko Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $26 million in the last 33 years in the communities where Shopko does business.

“Shopko views each community where we serve our customers as our ‘hometown’,” said Mike Bettiga, Shopko interim chief executive officer and chief operating officer. “We appreciate the opportunity to serve these communities and strive to strengthen them through the Shopko Foundation’s support of charitable groups and activities that are important to the people who live and work there. We are passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and educational opportunities for our neighbors in all the communities we serve.”

Recipients of grants through these two Foundation programs include the Greater Green Bay YMCA, Rebuilding Together and Encompass Early Education & Care, Inc. as well as more than 165 other charitable organizations and schools across the 21 states served by Shopko and Shopko Hometown stores.

The Shopko Foundation awards grants to 501(c)(3) organizations or accredited schools in communities where Shopko stores are located. The grants are awarded throughout the year to support programs which further the Foundation’s purpose of promoting the health and education of Shopko teammates and customers.

About Shopko

Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is a $3 billion retailer that operates over 325 stores in 21 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain, North Central and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 134 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in small to mid-sized cities; 5 Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept; 17 Shopko Pharmacy locations and 176 Shopko Hometown locations, a smaller concept store developed to meet the needs of smaller communities. In this area, Shopko has stores in Humboldt, Clarion and Jefferson.

About the Shopko Foundation

Founded in 2007, the Shopko Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation operated exclusively for charitable purposes.