Walgreens Welcomes Community to Celebrate 1st Anniversary with a Carnival
The Walgreens store at 4050 Sunrise Blvd. near the Anatolia neighborhood in Rancho Cordova is celebrating its 1st birthday on August 14th. To celebrate, the store is having a carnival August 14th at Eagles Nest Park from 11 to 3 pm. They will be joined by Jamba Juice and will have things like hot dogs, snow cones, cotton candy, kids games, face painting, children’s ID pictures & more. We covered the Walgreens Grand Opening last year.
Chris Green, manager of Walgreens, stated, “We expect 8-10 booths selling everything from popcorn to root beer floats to raise money. Our goal over the year is to raise $25,000 for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.” When asked about his experience opening the store in Rancho Cordova he said, “Walgreens is happy they took the chance to be the first retailer to open on this corner. Usually, we are the last store to open on a corner and the retail center is already fully developed.”
Chris shared that the experience of opening the store in the Anatolia neighborhood of Rancho Cordova has been very positive and this store is one of top non twenty-four-hour stores in the area. It’s also number one in the region for ice cream sales and sells 500 gallons of milk each month week.
Over the past year the store has added fresh produce including bananas, strawberries, apples oranges, mangoes, and cantaloupes as well as Fresh Express salads. They have added two propane sales racks and wiring is now being completed for a Redbox automated movie rental kiosk to be installed later this month.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Walgreens is the flagship sponsor of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer for 2010.
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The Chamber of Commerce was thrilled to be part of the grand opening last year. Walgreens brings a valuable service to Rancho Cordova, specifically to the residents of Anatolia. I applaud the forward-thinking management of Walgreens.
As much as I appreciate the conveniences that come along with this store and send them blessings for future success, I am saddened that providing free unhealthy food to children is how we will be celebrating, and that the act of being #1 in the region for ice cream sales is something to celebrate at all. Is encouraging the visible obesity epedemic in Rancho Cordova with free nitrates, high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated fat really how we should show the community how proud we are of one of our successes? I thought we were 20 Tons in 2010? Is this getting us there?
Walgreens is a great company. I appreciate their donation last Spring to Project 680. The manager was very generous and he unloaded a good deal of socks for local homeless students.
Good point Rick. We do tend to celebrate with junk food. We can probably get a little more creative and strategic about health. I don’t think a “veggie celebration” would do the trick in terms of marketing the celebration, but we can definitely do better. Do you have any suggestions?
I think it’s totally awesome that they supported 680 so much! It’s incredible in fact!
In regards to the food; from the sounds of the article, even if they were to eliminate the food they had planned completely, they would still have quite the celebration with kids games, face painting and children’s ID pictures. As someone who has been at a lot of kids parties as both an entertainer and an invitee, it usually appears that kids are generally more interested in the activities taking place than the food anyway. I have seen parents on many occasions urge their child to “take a break from playing and come get something to eat”. At community events like this, why not just replace “celebration food” with more activities; add a bounce house, or an inflatable slide? Change intake of calories to expulsion of calories, with no expense to the child’s enjoyment of the event.
Jamba Juice, already slated to participate is a relatively decent option for providing food. Albeit high in sugar, its 100% fruit sugars and contains no HFCS. How about Walgreens cuts into some of the bananas, strawberries, apples oranges, mangoes, and cantaloupes mentioned above in the article. Cut into finger sized pieces, kids love fresh fruit. The way I see it, there are LOTS of options that don’t include nutritionally questionable food (I can and would love to give you more if you want them!).
I don’t mean this to discredit the mission of this well deserved celebration, which is to have fun and bring the community together, but at the same time, at the heart of the Walgreens organization, they are a Drug Store. A pharmacy. How can they reconcile giving kids a hotdog and sno-kone today when they know, and good nutrition tells us, they will be the cause for Lipitor and Insulin tomorrow?
Rick, anything in moderation is okay. One day of indulgence does not create obese children, however point taken on the larger issue of providing healthy choices. I’d also point out that the food booths are meant to be a fundraiser for Making Strides Against Cancer so there is a purpose behind them other than just filling kids with calories.
It’s a good point, Rick, and I’m glad you brought it up. I think more organizations should follow some of your suggestions.
Could someone please correct the typo in the first sentence? There is no such word as its’ — it should just read “its.” Thank you!
Oops, fixed it. Thanks Becky.
While I would challenge that high fructose corn syrup, which makes up about 75% of the foods listed in the article, is okay in any amount, I do see your point, and do agree that most foods in moderation would be okay. That said, they are supposed to be an occasional, celebration food, consumed in moderate, if not meager amounts.
If you make the rounds in RC, you can easily find, and I fear some people do, a similar one of these events going on every weekend. Add to that 15-20 additional birthday parties for school mates a year, plus holidays, family celebrations and the fact that historically “big celebration” food items like this are now ingrained as daily “rewards” in many families, and now you are consuming these or similiar items two, or three, or more times a week.
A recipe for an obese RC. I know. I, unfortunately, am a part of that demographic.
That said, I control the food that goes into my body. As adults, we can be polite and say no thank you, but how easy is that for a child to say no to a root beer float when his parents are seemingly doing a boon to the community by supporting a local non-profit through their donation, and that he doesn’t want or need really to understand the long-term consequences. Does an eight year old want an explanation of diabetes? No. He wants a float. Another float, or icee, or sno-kone, or poscicle, or …
Furthermore, how can a “Healthcare Company” like Walgreens which clearly states on their company website that one of the keys to a healthy diet is (1)to “avoid foods that are high in fat and sugar” throw a “party” where these exact foods are the ONLY
options?
I understand that the company has good intentions by inviting the community together for a celebration – and that the booths are meant to be a fundraiser for a wonderful organization. I also know – as a good portion of my time and energy goes in to organizing community service events to support non-profits – that there are different ways to raise funds for these types of organizations than offering the community options that will only add fuel to a different health crisis.
I fervently feel that that a local business with a true feel for the heartbeat in our community, should recognize that a city spending so much energy on community health through programs like http://www.cityofranchocordova.org/index.aspx?recordid=499&page=19, and http://www.20tonsin2010.com/, doesn’t need an opposing challenger touting the success of a #1 status in ice cream sales and encouraging the consumption of, if not giving away JUNK food.
(1)www.walgreens.com%2Fmarketing%2Flibrary%2Fcontents.html%3Fdocid%3D001940%26doctype%3D1&h=4da32