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Hy-Vee Inc. will donate $1 million as well as commit to providing one million volunteer hours to organizations that support racial unity and equality primarily throughout its eight-state region, according to a press release.

Volunteer hours have already begun in the Minneapolis area as Hy-Vee employees have spent the last several days working with local organizations to provide meals, snacks and water to those in impacted neighborhoods throughout the metro. Hy-Vee employees have also assisted with neighborhood cleanup efforts in the Twin Cities.

“There are times when actions speak volumes and when actions can help to create real, long-lasting change — and for us, this is one of those times,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chairman, CEO and president. “Hy-Vee was founded on a guiding set of principles we call our 15 fundamentals. Four of those fundamentals — fairness, caring, respect and dignity — deeply pertain to the current situation our country is facing today. All those who call Hy-Vee home — whether it be an employee, customer or supplier — should and will feel welcomed, included and appreciated. Anything less is unacceptable.”

Hy-Vee’s donation will be funded through the company’s philanthropic One Step program. Since its inception, the One Step Program has given nearly $1 million dollars to build 86 wells in poverty-stricken communities around the world in need of clean drinking water; donated $1.18 million to provide 9.5 million meals for hungry people in the U.S. and overseas, funded the creation of 750 community gardens in urban and suburban areas to support education and food production; planted more than 420,000 trees across the Midwest to provide communities with the ecological and environmental benefits of trees; and provided an additional $1 million during the COVID-19 pandemic to Feeding America-affiliated food banks throughout Hy-Vee’s eight-state region.