Buehler’s Gifts Employees With Holiday Bonuses

Independent grocer Buehler’s Fresh Foods will give more than $740,000 in holiday bonuses to all of its eligible hourly and salaried employees as a token of its appreciation for those who continue to work during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The holiday bonuses will be distributed on Dec. 17. All seasonal, part-time and full-time Buehler’s employees are eligible as long as they're actively working through the pandemic and also employed for at least 90 days at Buehler’s.

“Considered essential workers, our employees continue to amaze and inspire as they show up every week, perform their jobs and keep food on everyone’s plate,” said Dan Shanahan, president and CEO of Wooster, Ohio-based Buehler’s, an employee-owned company that operates 13 Buehler’s Fresh Foods supermarkets in northeast Ohio. “We are pleased to be in a position to give these holiday bonuses.”

This is the second initiative taken by Buehler’s this year to provide its employees with some financial relief during the pandemic. The independent grocer also gave more than $250,000 in appreciation pay to its employees during the height of pandemic stockpiling.  

The company is not only providing assistance to its team members during these unprecedented times, but is also lending a helping hand to its community.

Buehler’s presented $46,189 to the American Heart Association in November for the grocer's Life is Why We Give campaign. The campaign was conducted from Sept. 19 to Oct. 17 and consisted of customers buying a $1, $5 or $10 heart in support of the American Heart Association of Stark and Wayne counties.

The grocery retail chain also hosted an Empty Bowls Drive-Thru Soup Event on Oct. 13 that provided a soup dinner for $10. The proceeds from the event assisted A Whole Community Inc. (AWC) with its Community Food Project. AWC gathers surplus produce from local farms and shares it with local food pantries, free meal sites and low-income neighborhoods to reduce food waste and increase farm-fresh produce to those in need.

Additionally, Buehler’s raised a little more than $10,000 at its registers over the summer for the Adaptive Sports Program of Ohio's (ASPO) Ability to Play campaign. These funds allow ASPO to safely provide health-and-wellness activities for individuals living with disabilities.