Dollar General is honored to recently receive a 2022 Impact Award by Progressive Grocer in the Educational Support / Learning Advancement category. The recognition highlights the Company’s continuous support of literacy and education initiatives through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF). Progressive Grocer’s 2022 Impact Awards were presented on October 17, 2022 and recognize companies making innovative and measurable moves and environmental, social and governance efforts.
“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has committed to supporting literacy and education programs in the communities Dollar General calls home,” shared Denine Torr, Dollar General’s executive director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “Since 1993, we are proud to have awarded more than $219 million through various initiatives, programs and partnerships, helping more than 16.1 million individuals pursue their educational goals and achieve their dreams. We are honored to receive this wonderful recognition, especially as we prepare to celebrate our 30th anniversary next year.”
With the belief everyone deserves an equal opportunity to receive a basic education, the DGLF was created in 1993 in honor of Dollar General’s co-founder, J.L. Turner, who was functionally illiterate and never completed a formal education. Since its inception, DGLF has invested in nonprofit organizations, schools and libraries within a 15-mile radius of Dollar General stores in the states in which they operate that help students learn to read, prepare for the high school equivalency or learn English.
In March 2022, DGLF also announced an approximately $5 million investment in grants across five national organizations to further support students and educators which includes Save the Children, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, DonorsChoose, Discover Education in Partnership with National Afterschool Association and Children’s Defense Fund.
DGLF’s grant programs include its adult, family, youth and summer reading literacy grants that fund programs helping individuals take steps toward a bright future, as well as Beyond Words grants that aid public school libraires severely impacted by disasters. The Foundation most recently announced more than $3 million in youth literacy grants. Applications for the 2023 Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant cycle supporting youth, family, summer and adult literacy programs will be available at www.dgliteracy.org in January 2023.