August 17th – Kroger Central Division announced today that Lauren Roos of Ft. Wayne, Indiana received a Kroger Scholars award of $1,000. She is the daughter of Deborah Roos, an associate at the 4120 North Clinton Road location. Lauren is a junior at the University of Dayton majoring in Special Education.

According to Kroger Central Division President Jeff Burt, “Strong support of education should be a priority for every corporate citizen; K-12 education is one of five national priorities for The Kroger Co. and in Central Division, we place a special emphasis on this particular priority.” Burt explains, “Back in February 2014 we launched a $4.9 million, three-year K-12 education strategy and we are pleased that this year, our strategy includes providing scholarships to 25 children of Kroger Central Division associates.” “Our decision to support education goes back more than 100 years and is motivated by two priorities: improving the educational opportunities available to our children and building the best possible workforce for our future”, says Burt, “we are very proud of Lauren’s academic accomplishments and other achievements and it is our privilege to honor her this way.”

As a company-wide program of The Kroger Co. Foundation, Kroger Scholars is open to children of associates in the Kroger family. To qualify, employees must have two years of service and work at least 1,000 hours per year. For the 2015-2016 school year 352 students across the nation will receive a scholarship. Funds can be used at any accredited two or four-year college, university or vocational program. Scholarship America, a leading national scholarship manager, selected recipients based on a broad range of criteria including scholastic performance, work experience, extra-curricular and volunteer activities; a personal statement of goals and aspirations was also required. Financial need was not a consideration and there were no internal personnel from The Kroger Co. involved in the selection process.