Dollar General and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation Announce Initial Racial Justice and Education Grant Recipients
Mon, 14 Dec 2020
Major Retailer Updates Key Operating Priority to Further Support Mission of Serving Others
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Dollar General (NYSE: DG) and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation announced today three initial grant recipientsas part of a $5 million racial justice and education commitment shared earlier this year. This pledge reflects DG’s ongoing mission of Serving Others and its continued focus on diversity and inclusion by providing support to organizations that are working to accelerate racial equity. Recipients include the Equal Justice Initiative, Operation Hope and INROADS.
Internally, the Company continues to elevate its commitment to diversity and inclusion as evidenced by the recent amendment to one of its key operating priorities. Investing in our diverse teams through development, empowerment, and inclusion now more closely aligns with DG’s focus on creating and fostering an inclusive environment where every employee feels valued, respected and supported.
“As one of America’s essential retailers, DG remains committed to elevating our mission of Serving Others, while keeping our core value of respecting the dignity and differences of others evident in all we do,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s CEO and Dollar General Literacy Foundation board member. “We are proud to put our beliefs into action, both internally and externally, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our efforts to advance equity and inclusion through our partnerships with the Equal Justice Initiative, Operation Hope and INROADS.”
Today’s funding includes a multi-year commitment to support the Equal Justice Initiative’s work to address criminal justice reform and challenge racial and economic injustice through education and awareness. The Atlanta-based Operation Hope will receive funds to support its efforts to advance financial dignity and inclusion through financial literacy training and coaching programs. INROADS will receive $1 million to support internship and education programs for ethnically diverse students across the country.
“Operation HOPE is honored to receive this $1 million grant from Dollar General to help support our work around increasing financial literacy, fueling inclusion, and empowering opportunity through our programs for youth and adults,” said John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. “Public-private partnerships like these are the foundation of creating a more equitable future for all Americans and we are proud to be in alignment together.”
“It will take an entire Community of Action to accelerate racial equality, and INROADS is honored to be a part of that important and timely work with Dollar General,” says Forest T. Harper, Jr., INROADS president and CEO. “Dollar General’s commitment to racial equity should impact those who are in greatest need, and this impact should drive the irreversible, sustainable solutions to closing the racial wealth gap in America.”
DG and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation plan to announce additional grant recipients in 2021.
For additional information, please visit the Dollar General Newsroom or contact Media Relations at 1-877-944-DGPR (3477) or via email at dgpr@dg.com.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 80 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares and seasonal items at everyday low prices in convenient neighborhood locations. Dollar General operated 16,979 stores in 46 states as of October 30, 2020. In addition to high-quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America's most-trusted manufacturers such as Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg's, General Mills, and PepsiCo. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.
About Dollar General Literacy Foundation
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $186 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 12 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation provides financial support to schools, nonprofit organizations and libraries within a 20-mile radius of Dollar General stores and distribution centers. To learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation or apply for a literacy grant, visit www.dgliteracy.org.
About Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. About EJI
About Operation HOPE, Inc.
Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to “silver rights” with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through our community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Project 5117 is our multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth in underserved communities, and stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation HOPE recently received its sixth consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Twitter and Facebook @operationhope
About INROADS
INROADS was founded more than 50 years ago. Inspired by the famed I Have a Dream speech, Frank Carr founded INROADS to remove career barriers to corporate opportunities for people of color. Today, INROADS is credited with establishing the Black middle class. With more than 40,000 alumni, INROADS is the largest nonprofit organization committed to leadership and career development for underserved and underrepresented talent in the world. INROADS has placed students in more than 154,000 paid internships throughout its history, and graduated more than 40,000 alumni into full-time professional and leadership positions with more than 1,000 corporate partners. Currently, INROADS serves 800-1,300 interns and 200 corporate clients. Learn more at INROADS.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn: @INROADSInc.
