How Bernick's Supports Students in 2021
Businesses exist to provide goods and services to the community. That’s the what we do at Bernick’s—we provide full-service beverage solutions to our customers. The why we do it goes a little deeper than that. We’re in business to see the businesses of our communities grow and thrive. We’re built on service and have dedicated our business model to be one of integrity, responsiveness, and goodwill. One particular focus of our efforts is on education—and for good reason.
The Future Depends On It
The youth of our community are the community’s future—its future leaders, team members, and consumers. These young people will take on the next generation through critical thinking, collaboration, and innovation. Investing in local education is something tangible we can do today that directly impacts tomorrow. These contributions come in the form of support to local schools, colleges and universities, as well as scholarships or funding for programs that support youth initiatives.
Annually, Bernick’s contributes 5% of profits directly into the communities we serve. Our Foundation was created to place emphasis on this important mission. Both health and fitness and youth and education are two distinct areas the Foundation seeks to serve. Programs that develop youth leadership skills, community involvement, and entrepreneurship are especially important places to invest. Annually, we devote $150,000 to organizations through leadership development and ongoing community need-based support. We’re striving to better the organizations that in turn, strive to make individual lives better.
Through the Distance
Today’s students have a perspective that most of us to this point don’t—the distant/remote learning phenomenon that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. They were taught adaptability firsthand as their classrooms shifted from the traditional comfort of going to school to the safety of their homes, connected by technology. Across our service region, school districts, administrators, and academic leaders worked together to overhaul the school system—in short order. Bernick’s was involved with some of the ways the schools adapted. We provided cases of bottled water to be distributed with take-home meals schools delivered to students at home. Several grants were issued to address the gaps between students and physical togetherness like a mobile truck driver simulator, an educational greenhouse, a preschool-based book program, and a jump challenge park that promoted healthy movement for kids.
Ongoing support for elementary student book programs happened across the communities we serve alongside local education foundation events. And, we bolstered nonprofit organizations’ efforts like United Way of Central Minnesota and other nonprofits by supporting their missions alongside our own. Each year, the Bernick Family Scholarship fund awards ten $2,000 scholarships to high school seniors (in our service areas) pursuing a full-time secondary education at a two-year or four-year high educational institution. This recognition highlights the young people who are driven agents of change excelling academically and socially.
Yearly, we receive many personal letters of appreciation from scholarship recipients. It’s heartening to see the sincere gratitude from students who share their success stories with us, and how our scholarship helped them towards a successful career. That type of visibility ensures the future is in good hands. We’re happy to support those paths.
