When Lee Badger bought Jack’s Foodtown — later known as Lee’s Marketplace — in 1981, the first thing he did was ask Sky View High School what they needed. He provided support to the school’s athletic and after-school programs.
That spirit of giving is still central to the locally owned grocery store chain years after Badger founded the business and years after his death in 2009. His son, Jonathan, president of Lee’s Marketplace, said the company has given thousands of dollars — and many more in food items — away to various causes.
“The community supports us, so we need to support them,” Jonathan Badger said. “We try to do that in all ways possible. We want to live in a good community, and in order to do that, we have to have support for one another.”
That support was evident on a rainy, cold Friday morning at the Cache Community Food Pantry, 359 S. Main St., Logan, where Lee’s Marketplace employees unloaded a truck with pallets of $20,000 worth of food. The shipment contained bulk loads of cereal, canned fruit and various brands of processed foods.
Matt Whitaker, the food pantry’s director, said Lee’s donation is enough to carry the food pantry with plenty of items into April. November and December and the food pantry’s “busiest months,” Whitaker said, but January, February and March are slow months.
“What Lee’s is able to do for us really fills a big gap,” Whitaker said. “Thanks to Lee’s for making the opportunity to give and thanks to the customers for responding to it.”
Jarad McDonald, Lee’s Marketplace chief operating officer, praised store employees and the community “for getting behind this. We’re blessed to live in such a generous community.”
The directors of both Lee’s Marketplace locations in Cache Valley — Logan and Smithfield — were on hand Friday to deliver the donation to the food pantry.
Pete Krusi, director of the Lee’s Marketplace at 850 S. Main Street, Smithfield, also praised customers for participating in making the food pantry donations possible.
“This can be a tough time for folks, and we’re glad to be part of it,” Krusi said.
Landon Wiley, director of the Lee’s Marketplace at 1400 North, Logan, emphasized that providing the food pantry donation is part of Lee’s mission “to support the local communities in which we serve.”
“This is a great way to give back during the holidays,” Wiley said.
