Names of Note: Save Mart donations mark 70 years. Stanislaus students vie in job skills
Save Mart is donating $70,000 to food banks to mark 70 years since its founding in Modesto.
The grocery chain has grown to 204 locations in California and Nevada since the 1952 launch by Nick Tocco and Mike Piccinini. It employs about 14,000 people under the Save Mart, Lucky California and FoodMaxx banners.
The money will go to 37 nonprofit groups in the two states that help households short of food. Five are in Save Mart’s home county:
- Second Harvest of the Greater Valley
- Food Initiative of Greater Stanislaus
- Oakdale Community Sharing Food Pantry
- Riverbank Christian Food Sharing
- Westside Food Pantry
“I am incredibly grateful of our 70-year history established by our founding families and continued by our current family of extraordinary store managers and team members,” Chief Executive Officer Chris McGarry said in a news release.
Save Mart is the largest family-owned grocery chain in California. Its biggest growth came with the 2007 acquisition of 66 stores now operating as Lucky California in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Last year, Save Mart debuted grocery-delivery robots at its store on Oakdale Road near Sylvan Avenue. The technology has since spread to Pleasanton.
The company also operates Smart Refrigerated Transport and is a partner in Super Store Industries (SSI), which has a distribution center in Lathrop and the Sunnyside Farms dairy processing plant in Turlock.
Turlock, Hughson win career-skill event
About 530 high school students competed in the 36th annual Occupational Olympics and Career Exposition for Stanislaus County. It took place Thursday, March 17, at the county fairgrounds in Turlock.
The students showed their skills in 16 categories and also interacted with 38 potential employers. Turlock High placed first among large schools, while Hughson topped small campuses.
The county Office of Education sponsored the event. The individual winners were:
- Ag Engineering/Construction Trades: 1. Jesus Tovar, Riverbank; 2. Jose Rivera, Riverbank; 3. Julian Gonzalez, Modesto
- Ag Equipment Technology: 1. Matt LoveJoy, Hughson; 2. Daniel Olivas, Hughson; 3. Gary Coldicutt, Hughson
- Animal Husbandry: 1. Jessica Sanders, Oakdale; 2. Kate Brown, Oakdale; 3; Jenna Sanders, Oakdale
- Basic Life Support/CPR/First Aid: 1. Jessica Guzman, Turlock; 2. Genesis Garcia and Fatima Solorio, Turlock; 3. Ruby Jimenez and Jasmeen Takhar, Pitman
- Criminal Justice: 1. Emily Lopez, Pitman; 2. Heidi Lopez, Orestimba; 3. Idris Ahmady, Davis
- Floriculture: 1. Morgan Gonzalez, Patterson; 2. Celeste Rangel, Turlock; 3. Alexia Ruiz, Hughson
- Job Seeking Contest: 1. Amelia Bettencourt, Turlock; 2. Nicole Carter, Oakdale; 3. Jenny Sanders, Oakdale
- Medical Occupations: 1. Emily Stone, Oakdale; 2. Kamila Juarez Gutierrez, Davis; 3. Ildee Briton, Oakdale
- Portfolio Review: 1. Hadynn McCormick, Turlock (no other award)
- Pitsco Drag Racing Light Weight Class: 1. Angel Zamora, Turlock; 2. Nicholas Dykzeul, Oakdale; 3. Rafael Sanchez, Turlock
- Pitsco Drag Racing Heavy Weight Class: 1. Aaron Moijica Espinoza, Turlock; 2. Abigail Villalba, Turlock; 3. Steve Annaliese, Oakdale
- Pitsco Drag Racing Design: 1. Heidi Judson, Turlock; 2. John Rocha, Oakdale; 3. Paola Angel, Turlock
- Robotics Technology: 1. Johnny Cruz, Isaiah Riddle and Eduardo Barajas, Valley College High School; 2. Casey Bartolotta and Collin Hill, Stanislaus Military Academy; 3. Alexa Andya, Victoria Haase and Tierra Brown, Valley College
- Salad Preparation and Display: 1. Vanessa Torres, Riverbank; 2. Jonah Taylor, Oakdale; 3. Isabel Valenzuela, Riverbank
- Small Engine Technology: 1. Canyon Coons, Beyer; 2. Eduardo Larnou, Central Valley; 3. Haden Carmack, Beyer
- Video Game Design: 1. Logan Hewitt, Ira Kegley and Frankie Raimondo, Valley College; 2. Nick Hughes and Bambi Moore, Valley College; Shin Medlin and Skyler Simas, Valley College
- Welding: 1. Logan Ladd, Turlock; 2. Anthony Gutierrez, Turlock; 3. Roberto Lopez, Oakdale.
Names of Note recognizes people and organizations for their contribution to their communities. Submit items to jholland@modbee.com.
