Cumberland Farms officially opens Ravena store with a cause
RAVENA — The Cumberland Farms location on Route 9W in Ravena celebrated its grand opening last Tuesday with a ribbon cutting and the start of a fundraiser for a local nonprofit organization.
Beginning Tuesday for the next four weeks, 10 cents of every hot or iced coffee or soft drink purchased at the store, which has been opened for two month, will go to the Ravena Pop Warner program, which specializes in football and cheerleading for children, Cumberland Farms Senior Marketing Specialist Bryan Pierce said.
“Every store that we open, every new store, we do that [a fundraiser] with a local charity,” Pierce said.
Pierce will typically reach out to store managers to see if they have a charity close to the location they’re interested in helping out or have a connection with, he said.
“It’s good to give back to a program that’s near and dear to someone’s heart,” “It’s usually up to the store manager to make that call.”
The money raised will help the 19 girls and one boy who participate in the cheerleading portion to travel to the Youth Cheer and Dance Alliance Globals contest in Atlantic City in January, which will help to cover the $75 competition fee and hotel room for each participant, Pop Warner Coach Katrina Capuano said, adding she hopes to raise $2,500 in total. Capuano was thrilled to hear about Cumberland Farm’s fundraising effort for the team.
“We can never say thank you enough to basically help us to get to where we want to go,” Capuano said.
The students, ranging in age from 9 to 12, acted as servers during the event, handing out free samples to customers.
“It’s awesome, they love it as you can see,” Capuano said.
It takes plenty of bravery to compete in front of huge crowds, but the students do it well, Capuano added.
“They’re all so good and some of them never cheered and they made it this far,” Capuano said. “Other ones have cheered for the last five years that I’ve coached them, it’s nice.”
The new store is part of new concept for Cumberland Farms, which features speciality coffees, smoothies, hot foods including sandwiches and pizza, and ordering kiosks where customers can get in and out of the store quickly, Pierce said.
“There’s a lot with the new store,” he said. “The convenience store industry is trending more towards the hot food, quick and ready available hot foods.”
Barbara Bernesser, of West Coxsackie, has a granddaughter who participates in the Pop Warner program, which she thinks is fantastic. “These kids need something and this is so important,” she said. “These girls have come a long way.”
Bill Roe, of Ravena, has a granddaughter, Leah, who participates in the program and she loves it, he said, adding it keeps the children moving.
“It’s great for them to be active,” he said. “It’s a great cause.”
The new store is directly across the street from the much smaller previous store and features a patio seating area.
