Staff writer
Some interesting characters have been stopping by Casey’s General Store lately.
Pasted on the walls all over the store are little square fliers proclaiming the names of individuals who helped send children with muscular dystrophy to summer camp by donating $1 or more to Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Batman, Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Gray, Kung Fu Panda, and Captain America have been named among the donors.
Of course, those could be the alter egos of charitable Marionites. Or maybe Casey’s employees have been getting creative when those who donate decline to provide a name.
Either way, the fliers serve as proof of the success the store has had in raising funds for MDA.
“We’ve done really well as of this morning,” manager Nicole Herzet said Saturday. “Our goal is $2,000, we’re already over $1,000 a little less than halfway through.”
The promotion, which began Aug. 1, goes through Sept. 7.
Saturday, the staff took a couple of hours to raise money while off the clock in the form of a car wash for donations.
Herzet said Casey’s will do about four fundraisers of this kind per year.
“The first week and the last week are usually the most successful,” she said. “In the middle weeks, we have to come up with different ideas like this.”
This upcoming Saturday the staff will offer to pump gas and clean customers’ windshields in exchange for a donation, Herzet said.
She said she and assistant manager Kimi Anderson have been coming up with ideas with help from the rest of the staff.
“We’re raising as much money as we can,” she said. “We want to make our bosses look good, make us look good, and send as many kids to camp as possible.”
For the staff, there is other motivation at hand.
“Whoever raises the most money gets a $50 gift card and gets to pie the managers in the face,” Herzet said.
The community has responded well to the fundraiser, she said. The staff’s demeanor and ideas for fundraising have helped.
“If there’s a way to make it interesting, we figure out how to do it,” employee Shandra Johnson said.
Of course, not every Casey’s customer donates. With competitive incentives, though, employees are trying their hardest, as Johnson did Monday with one customer, even after he declined.
“You’re supposed to say ‘yes,’” she told him. “We need all the help we can get. And if you win, you get to stick a pie in the boss’s face. Makes it worth it.”