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Fruth Pharmacy’s Barbara Taylor, Lynne Fruth, Amy Nelson and Tim Weber help ready flood relief donations.
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Lynne Fruth, president and chairman of Fruth Pharmacy, admits she and her business were among the fortunate ones emerging from the devastation wrought by massive flooding that struck nearby Elkview, W.Va., and several other towns in that state in late June.
“There was disaster all around us, but our new store took on only minimal runoff water; we were really completely spared as a chain,” she explained, adding that the June 23 storm was reminiscent of a similar disaster that struck the region in 1972.
Although flooding spared the lives and immediate homes of Fruth employees, others who lived just a few miles from Fruth stores were not as lucky. But the worst in Mother Nature brought out the best in Fruth’s customers, community organizations, employees and business partners as well as those of other retailers.
Trailer loads of such badly needed supplies as over-the-counter products, first aid kit and sanitizing packages were sent to flood-ravaged communities from Fruth’s warehouse located here. Fruth Pharmacy also leveraged the social media and in-store displays to advise volunteers on the ways they could help.
“Every day I hear a new story that helps put things back into perspective,” says Fruth. “There was also an enormous amount of unsolicited support and help from drug companies, front-end vendors and various other business partners.”
She saluted the efforts of the Fruth team who made several critical decisions in her absence as she traveled out of town for her daughter’s wedding. For example, after the flooding occurred, gift category manager Amy Nelson quickly began bringing Fruth Pharmacy into action. She called each store and had donation boxes set up. Nelson and other Fruth category managers began calling business partners for assistance as well.
Current and retired employees volunteered their time to drive donations to flood-affected areas. Stover Trucking also offered its services to help drive donations.
Customers who didn’t know what to purchase requested to be able to donate funds for purchasing of supplies. And Fruth noted that Genetco, another business partner, donated thousand of dollars in supplies for veterinary care. “To lots of people, pets are part of the family,” pointed out Fruth.
Fruth Pharmacy’s Point of Sale staff created a special UPC for monetary donations. This enabled Fruth to keep track of exactly how much money was collected to help purchase more needed supplies. Over $5,000 was collected across the 29-location, family-owned chain.
Other pharmacy retailers also responded to the West Virginia flood relief efforts. CVS Pharmacy opened a mobile pharmacy in Elkview and donated thousands of dollars worth of infant care, personal hygiene and O-T-C products that were distributed to area health care centers.
And the Rite Aid Foundation donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross of West Virginia. “The need in West Virginia where Rite Aid has had a presence for many years is great,” stated Ken Martindale, CEO of Rite Aid Stores and president of Rite Aid Corp.
