WORTHINGTON — Gift cards are coming soon to employees of Worthington businesses, thanks to a donation made by Fareway.
Fredi Magana, the store manager at Worthington’s Fareway, said the donation of 20 Fareway gift cards — each in the amount of $50 — is part of an initiative by Fareway Stores Inc. in multiple communities in which the company has grocery stores. The effort is a product of a desire to assist others during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“It definitely makes us very proud to help out the community in this way,” Magana said. “It makes me very proud to see what corporate is doing not just for our employees, but other employees in our community itself.”
Magana said every Fareway employee who is 18 years of age or older and works 20 hours a week is also receiving 20 hours of pay as a bonus in appreciation for their service during the pandemic. Full-time employees are receiving 40 hours of pay as a bonus, and employees under age 18 are getting bonuses of their own.
“I’m happy to work for this company and see how they’re doing,” Magana said. “With all these bonuses, we have more than 12,000 employees as a corporation, so it’s definitely something to take pride in.”
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Magana said the company is distributing more than 200,000 gift cards in its communities with stores. Locally, Magana and Fareway is working with the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce to distribute the cards. Any employee of Chamber-member businesses will be eligible to be selected to receive a gift card.
