From morning until night, an army of Strack & Van Til associates work to keep Northwest Indiana’s shelves, fridges, and freezers stocked with quality groceries, fresh food, and daily necessities. On Sunday afternoon, the local grocer returned the favor by hosting its third Annual Companywide Picnic – offering free food and a wide array of activities for associates and their families.
Hosted at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point, the picnic featured all of the classics – burgers, hot dogs, and pie eating contests. Strack & Van Til also brought in some additional fun including a mechanical bull, zip line, corn maze, and more.
“It’s just a great opportunity for us to spend an afternoon with our associates and managers who work so hard during the year to make Strack & Van Til successful,” said Jeff Strack, President & CEO of the local grocer. “We also want to thank those families that support our team members, so it’s awesome to see them and say hello. It’s special to see the excitement on the kid’s faces and meet everyone outside of the store environment.”
The past few years presented an especially difficult challenge to Strack & Van Til associates as it worked around the pandemic. Navigating strained supplies, changing practices, and other unique circumstances all pushed the teams as they worked to keep the Region fed.
“Our employees are the frontline workers, so this is a token of appreciation for all that they’ve done,” said Derek Kinney, Chief People Officer. “We care about our people, we’re a family-run company. We want to ensure that every associate feels welcome, important, and appreciated.”
At the last Companywide Picnic, nearly 2,100 Strack & Van Til associates and family members stopped by throughout the day. Kinney expected this year’s total to exceed that.
“So far so good, it’s exciting to see so many people,” he said. “You see their smiling faces, you see their families, their parents, their kids – I think they’re proud to work for Strack’s.”
The picnic also featured a variety of prizes, with the top three winners of the pie eating contests (kids and adults) each winning gift cards. Associates were also entered into a raffle, with the prizes including big ticket items such as 4K TVs, a Nintendo Switch, an Instant Pot, and much more.
Strack stressed just how much each individual associate means to the grocer.
“I just want to say thank you to every associate and manager,” he said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today. On behalf of the Van Til family, the Strack Family, and our entire leadership team – we appreciate everything you do during the course of the year.”
To learn more about Strack & Van Til, visit strackandvantil.com.
