Each year, the Sumas family provides scholarship opportunities for Village Associates and their family members who are pursuing higher education. Neither Nick nor Perry Sumas had a formal education when they came to the United States in search of the “American Dream”, but they cared deeply about those who worked with them.
In 2023, we’re pleased to award forty $1,000 scholarships and two $5,000 scholarships. Please join us in congratulating these exceptional members of our Village family and wish them luck in their future endeavors!
Please join us in congratulating our Village Grads as they take the next step of their journey.
Our leaders and our fellow team members couldn’t be more proud of our associates. If you see these grads in store, wish them well on their continuing education and wish them luck!
During this month, we celebrate and recognize LGBTQ+ individuals, their contribution, and impact – locally, nationally, and internationally.
At Village, one of our foundational focus areas is creating welcoming experiences for our customers and associates. As Village Associates and Leaders, our mandate is to ensure all people feel welcome, whether shopping or working in our stores.
During the month of June, we ask our associates and leaders to focus on how our customers and fellow associates are welcomed in their workplaces and stores.
Listening and observing beyond the words is the key to activating empathy and building inclusion. Learning to listen across cultural differences, using intuition and social sensitivity, strengthens us an organization and equip us to serve our communities.
Make your voice heard and participate in this year’s Spring AEM Survey which runs from March 7 through March 27. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete, and your responses are sent directly to Glint, a third-party vendor, who makes your confidentiality a priority so no one will know how you’ve answered.
Before you take the survey, please read the three helpful tips below:
To access the survey, you can choose one of two ways: You can sign in with your 5-character employee ID and password (same password used to sign into LINK, Axonify, and Electronic Paystubs) OR using your 12-digit employee ID and birth year. Important: Please close out of all browsers before and after taking the survey and make sure to sign out after completion.
You can take the survey on any of the following devices – Desktop: A link will be available on the LINK homepage, TC-70 Handheld: The survey will be accessible through the Soti-Surf app.
While taking the survey, you will have the opportunity to give feedback for each question. You can leave a unique comment for each question or provide general feedback at the end of the survey. Please take the time to provide constructive feedback (e.g., descriptive, specific, focused on solutions). Note:Leaving a comment is optional and if you have a specific concern or want to submit a formal complaint, please see your designated HR Business Partner.
See your Store Manager or HR Business Partner if you have any questions.
Village Supermarket stores all worked to fight hunger for Hunger Action Month. This year, our city stores joined the fight! ShopRite stores fundraised for Partners in Caring and Fairway and Gourmet Garage welcomed our first-ever Feeding Our City campaign. Our stores collectively raised over $250,000 to fight hunger in the communities we serve. Keep reading for some awesome stats and great photos of the store teams!
Congratulations to our Self-Check Out Winning Teams!
Partners in Caring Winners: ShopRite of Pelham Raised $3,955.00
Feeding Our City Winners: Fairway of 74th Street Raised $3,623.00
Congratulations to our top 10 Partners in Caring Hunger Fighting Cashiers!
294 ShopRite of Springfield: Julie Mornhinweg
633 ShopRite of Absecon: Tara Reed
601 ShopRite of English Creek: Terri Baldwin
245 ShopRite of Morristown: Mary-Kate Dombrowski
633 ShopRite of English Creek: Francine Bruno
273 ShopRite of Chester: Cristina Matasaru
273 ShopRite of Chester: Randy Clark
443 ShopRite of Stirling: Mei Hsieh-Li
443 ShopRite of Stirling: Patricia Schieni
294 ShopRite of Springfield: Monique Janthas
Our top ten cashiers single-handedly raised $19,692.44 over the 5 weeks!
What an amazing contribution to an important cause. Great job!
Results are in! Congratulations to our 8 Village Stores who will be featured on the Cheerios box! This was a super competitive year, and it’s no easy feat to get a spot on the box. Overall, ShopRite stores raised 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS to fight hunger in the local communities we serve. Great work!
Each year, the Sumas family provides scholarship opportunities for Village Associates and their family members who are pursuing higher education. Neither Nick or Perry Sumas had a formal education when they came to the United States in search of the “American Dream”, but they cared deeply about those who worked with them.
In 2022, we’re pleased to have expanded the award to forty $1,000 scholarships and for the first time ever, two $5,000 scholarships. Please join us in congratulating these exceptional members of our Village family and wish them luck on their future endeavors!
This June, we celebrate our young, resilient team members who are graduating this year. Please join us in congratulating them as they take the next step of their journey.
Our leaders and our fellow team members couldn’t be more proud of the work that these essential heroes have done for their family, friends, and neighbors. If you see these grads in store, wish them well on their continuing education and wish them luck!
Pride Month commemorates the ongoing pursuit of equal justice for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community and celebrates the accomplishments of LGBTQ+ individuals. It promotes the self-affirmation, dignity, and increased visibility of LGBTQ+ people as a social group. June 1st marks the beginning of Pride Month, with June 28th specifically marked for Pride Day. This day marks the date in history of the first Pride march held in New York City in 1970.
Village Super Market is committed to providing a safe, inclusive workplace where all Associates and customers feel welcome to visit our stores. It is up to us as individuals to practice empathy and take the steps to move toward a more just society, and all five of our core values fall squarely into our responsibilities here: Act With Integrity, Respect For All, Care Deeply, Challenge Yourself, and Welcome To The Family.
We’re continuing the conversation to celebrate our differences, to better understand each other and keep ourselves open to learning about experiences outside of our own. Although understanding others is the first step in respecting those we work with every day, we don’t have to understand before we accept or love anyone. We must listen to all points of view to foster an environment where everyone feels comfortable enough to be themselves.
This Pride Month, we’re also providing opportunities for you to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community and the purpose of these celebrations. Visit the links below if you want to read more. You can use hashtags like #PrideMonth, #PrideDay, and #LGBTQ to join the conversation on social media!
Pride Day: What were the Stonewall Riots and why are they important?
On June 28, 1969, New York City Police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gathering place for the LGBTQ+ community. They arrested employees and patrons of the bar while pedestrians watched; riots ensued in response, lasting about five days.
Gay rights activists proposed the idea of a march in response to the Stonewall events. The first march took place in New York on the anniversary of the Stonewall riots on June 28th, 1970, to celebrate “pride.” It inspired other pride marches across the country in solidarity and gay pride celebrations expanded globally.
Now, LGBTQ+ Pride is a month-long celebration with marches occurring throughout, and has been celebrated for over 50 years! First officially recognized by President Bill Clinton as “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month” in 1999, Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump continued to recognize this commemoration but as “LGBTQ+ Pride Month”.
It’s also important to know the history of the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community. People around the world face violence and inequality — and sometimes torture, even execution — because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. This month we are bringing attention to the fact that sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of ourselves, our Associates, and our communities.
The first step we can all take is to understand what’s going on in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. It might be difficult to understand some of the terms used to describe LGBTQ+ individuals. Let’s take a look at some of them now:
What is gender identity?One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.
Cisgender (sometimes abbreviated cis) is used to describe a person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. For example, someone who identifies as a woman and was identified as female at birth is a cisgender woman.
What does it mean to be transgender?Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
What is a gender transition? The process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Some people socially transition, whereby they might begin dressing, using names and pronouns and/or be socially recognized as another gender. Others undergo physical transitions in which they modify their bodies through medical interventions.
Non-binary is used to describe people who feel their gender cannot be defined within the margins of gender binary. Instead, they understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman. Some non-binary people may feel comfortable within Trans communities and find this is a safe space to be with others who don’t identify as cis, but this isn’t always the case.
How else might non-binary people identify? Because non-binary includes anyone that doesn’t fit the traditional narrative of male or female, non-binary communities are incredibly diverse. Non-binary people may identify as both male and female or neither male nor female. They may feel their gender is fluid, can change and fluctuate or perhaps they permanently don’t identify with one particular gender. The range of language and labels used within non-binary communities’ means that non-binary has become an inclusive umbrella term.
How is the LGBTQ+ community struggling today?
There’s still work to be done when it comes to raising awareness and advocating for LGBTQ+ issues. Housing and employment discrimination still persists, and there are hurdles to overcome in public and at the workplace.
One in four LGBTQ+ employees report experiencing employment discrimination in the last five years
The Transgender unemployment rate is three times higher than the national average
Over one quarter (27%) of transgender people who held or applied for a job in the last year reported being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion due to their gender identity
Nearly 75% of transgender employees take steps to avoid mistreatment in the workplace
Nearly 1 in 10 LGBTQ+ employees report that discrimination negatively affected their work environment
There are no federal protections barring employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, either. State laws vary, and while the states where we operate are more progressive than most…
In 28 states, you can get fired just for being lesbian, bisexual, or gay
In 30 states, you can be fired for being transgender
Transgendered people specifically are facing many barriers to acceptance. 2021 was a record-breaking year for anti-transgender legislation with 33 states introducing bills that aim to curb the rights of transgender people across the country — and many are succeeding. According to the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, at least 117 bills targeting transgender rights are part of the current legislative session, including bathroom bans, youth sport bans, and restrictions on medical care for transgendered individuals.
There are social pressures as well — for many LGBTQ+ Americans, especially for youth, coming out can be a very difficult process, even for those who know they are loved by friends and family. It’s a process of self-understanding, accepting, and valuing your sexual orientation/identity. For some, there may be a sense of being different, and it involves facing societal responses and attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people.
But research shows us that coming out about sexual orientation and gender identity makes a huge difference to LGBTQ+ people’s ability to lead happy, open and fulfilling lives. It’s important that we all do our part in making Village a place where everyone can feel safe to be themselves.
Here are some links if you’re looking to learn more about coming out:
The CDC is an excellent resource for info about LGBTQ+ youth issues (for youths and their guardians) regarding bullying, suicide prevention, and to learn about partner organizations
Spotlight on LGBTQ+ Pioneers
More Resources
There are many places where you can learn more about Pride Month and ongoing events:
Please join us in celebrating Pride Month as we strive to better understand each other! Your fellow team members at Village make up a diverse workforce that represents a larger America; understanding experiences outside our own is the first step in respecting those we work with every day. We’re here to listen, too — if you’d like someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to contact your HR Partner.
In the spirit of spreading kindness and showing gratitude we want to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that shared a story, words of wisdom, and inspiring quote.
The power behind sincere care and concern came through in force!
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou
We are honored to share your heartfelt words with our Village family. Check out our video below:
