Dollar General Foundation champions education, literacy across communities it serves

Mary Winn Pilkington, VP investor relations and public relations, Dollar General

In September, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded nearly $4 million to fund youth literacy and education programs at more than 800 schools, nonprofits and literacy organizations across the United States, supporting the company’s mission of “Serving Others.”

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That brings the total amount awarded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation over the past 21 years to $97 million. Those funds have helped more than 5.8 million individuals “take their first steps toward literacy or continued education,” according to VP investor relations and public relations Mary Winn Pilkington.



“We try to make sure we have a grant to every community where we have a store; that is our goal,” said Pilkington. Those grants support programs like youth literacy, local libraries, summer reading programs, family education reading programs and English as a second language programs.



“If you can consolidate your giving behind one topic, you can really make an impact,” she said.



Dollar General’s commitment to literacy really took root in 1994, when former CEO Cal Turner Jr. began the foundation. “His grandfather, Dollar General founder J.L. Turner, had a third-grade education and was functionally illiterate,” said Pilkington.



The company’s literacy efforts are the largest but by no means the only way in which the company funds local organizations. “Serving others is part of the culture, and it’s what this company was founded on,” said Greg Sparks, EVP store operations, who now oversees the foundation.



That commitment also extends to the company’s own. Through its Employee Assistance Foundation, Dollar General workers can get financial help in times of personal crisis.