We are always grateful for our corporate partners who volunteer their time and share their resources with us. One of our most recent partners is Ralphs grocery. When Ralphs hosted their first event, it was quite a remarkable sight. Smiling employees began pouring out of their cars and into our playground with boxes of toys, barbeque supplies, and balloons. “The snow cone machine is on its way. Where should we set up the root beer floats?” declared Mary of Ralphs grocers. During dinner, everyone was all smiles as they shared about how good the meal was and how excited they were for dessert.

In the midst of a delicious barbeque meal, face painting, snow cones, and root beer floats, District Manager Michael Quinones, looked around and asked, “How else can we help”? We shared the need for gainful employment opportunities and shared that many of our guests had college degrees and other training. It took about two seconds for Mike to agree to hire our guests. The excitement in the room grew as managers began scheduling interviews on the spot.

Since that day, Ralphs has gone beyond with helping our families. Mary, their District Human Resources Manager, meets with our guests at our center to walk them through the online application process and coaches them on interview skills; she also sets up group interviews for them. Over the past five months, Ralphs has hired over ten of our guests, hosted two events and sponsored our Christmas Store Kids’ Zone. We are honored to call Ralphs a friend of the mission.