Congratulations to Lakewood on winning the 2024 Kindness Rocks Award!
The Kindness Rocks Award began in 2019 as a way to honor the heartfelt giving and Tradition of Generosity established by Lou and Jean in 1971. In the more than five decades since, the tradition has flourished and grown to include a variety of ways in which we give back to our communities:
- Our Thanksgiving Food Basket drive, where our Lou’s team comes together to package 1,200 food baskets to feed under privileged families in the area.
- Our annual Lou Malnati’s Cancer Research Benefit, where last year we raised more than $400,000 toward cancer research. Our stores raised nearly $30,000 on their own through Circle Sales, Roundup Donations, and $1 for every dessert sold in the month of September.
- Our Malnati Match program, which supports our team members who experience a hardship.
- Our Scholar Dollars Scholarship program, which invests in the education of our team members.
- Our fundraising events that we use to give back to our communities.
- Our field marketing events that connect us within those communities.
- Our Kindness Rocks Store team volunteer opportunities that offer a way to continue our tradition of generosity while creating a team connection.
The Kindness Rocks program provides our people with so many opportunities to bring more kindness to the world, especially in our communities. We are so honored our team members continue to take pride in carrying on our Tradition of Generosity.
The Kindness Rocks Award is earned by the store that best exemplifies this tradition of generosity and serving communities in which we live and work. It was first awarded to Lakewood in 2019, which was fitting since the name of the program was a saying of our beloved Lakewood team member, Meagan Sunde. The most recent winner was Naperville in 2023. Now, the trophy goes back to its original home and the inspiration for its namesake.
The criteria for this prestigious award is listed below (please note that in order to qualify for this award, a store must have participated in ALL four categories):
- Planned and participated in a Kindness Rocks volunteer event
- Raised money for our Cancer Research Benefit with the circles
- Executed Give Back Fundraisers
- Participated in Field Marketing events
Lakewood went above and beyond these measures in 2024. This included hosting a Kindness Rocks Blood Drive at the store in partnership with The Red Cross, helping provide blood to over 70 people in need. They also had their annual Angel Tree in the lobby during the holiday season, which allowed for team members and customers to donate gifts to underprivileged children in McHenry County. For this, the team received a letter of recognition from The Salvation Army, who was able to donate gifts to over 100 kids in need as well as provide holiday meals for their families.
These are just a couple examples of what makes Lakewood such an exceptional team and such worthy winners of our 2024 Kindness Rocks Award! Congratulations to the entire store for an amazing year and thank you for all your care for your people and community. You truly lead by example.
We would like to recognize the management team at Lakewood who help drive these events and cultivate a culture that revolves around kindness. A huge shoutout to the following individuals:
- RD: Matt Stern
- DM: Eva Andrews
- GM: Dan Wesolowski
- Nick Behrens
- Kellie McClellen
- Jeff Holtz (Not Pictured)
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