Giant-Landover offers jobs to veterans, collects funding for USO during Military Appreciation Month

LANDOVER, Md. — Supermarket chain Giant Food of Landover, Md., will focus on the employment of transitioning veterans and their family members as it designates March as its Military Appreciation Month, the Ahold USA banner said Friday.

Giant-Landover will work with the USO of Metropolitan Washington and USO Delaware for a third year, sponsoring an in-store giving campaign that will support programs from both across the Mid-Atlantic region.

"At Giant, our military recruitment philosophy is focused on careers, not jobs," Giant-Landover president Anthony Hucker said. "We're seeking energetic and enthusiastic military leaders who can translate skills they've developed serving our country to lead our store teams in management positions to proudly serve our customers."

So far, the chain has added five veterans to store management teams, and several additional offers are pending. Giant is actively recruiting veterans through employment websites for veterans and military-focused career fairs. The company is also collecting money for the USO chapters by selling healthy snack packs containing a Giant-brand nutrition bar, pretzel bar, drink sticks, fruit snacks, bottled water and CareOne hand sanitizer, as well as collecting donations added to grocery bills. The chain collected $108,000 and nearly 10,000 pounds of food for USO-Metro in 2011 and delivered $78,500 and more than 15,000 Care Packages to USO-Metro and USO Delaware in 2012.