Brittany Waters, Author at Coca-Cola Consolidated

Consolidated Partners with Classroom Central to Celebrate 80 Educators During Teacher Appreciation Week

Brittany Waters2022-06-06T11:51:29-04:00May 6, 2022|Community Engagement|

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, our Charlotte teammates partnered with Classroom Central to celebrate 80 local educators from schools where 50% or more of the students receive free or reduced lunch. The teachers shopped for school supplies in the free Classroom Central store and received gift cards, dessert, and Coca-Cola Starlight as a token of appreciation for their out of this world work in the classroom!

NC Educators Receive School Supplies in Celebration of Teachers Appreciation Week

Brittany Waters2022-04-22T17:39:09-04:00April 14, 2022|Community Engagement|

In appreciation of our educators, Coca-Cola Consolidated hosted a special breakfast at Mountain Park Elementary in Surry County, North Carolina. Our team gifted dozens of teachers with bags filled with school supplies and lots of Coke gear! Consolidated also donated five picnic tables made of recycled material and water bottles with the school’s logo for students and staff to enjoy!

Response Team Serves Associate of Consolidated Customer Displaced By House Fire

Brittany Waters2022-04-21T15:27:30-04:00March 10, 2022|Community Engagement|

Coca-Cola Consolidated Response Team Manager Tony Nunley heard about a man in his community losing his home in a fire when he was on the phone with his mom on the weekend of Jan. 22. The Response Team typically helps teammates recover from natural disasters, but after some quick digging, Nunley learned the man was Barry Witt, who works at a Roanoke, Va.-area Food Lion, a long-time customer of Consolidated.

This connection and our Purpose to serve others resulted in the Response Team assisting Witt. Nunley reached out to Witt to confirm that it was him who had suffered the loss, and within a week the Response Team got the go-ahead to proceed. Nunley put out a call for anyone willing to help and Consolidated teammates, Food Lion associates, neighbors, and other community members stepped up to help clean out Witt’s home.

Volunteers gutted the house, allowing the contractor to come in and start the next steps.

“The overwhelming response from the local team was second to none,” added Nunley. “It was just really good that they stepped up to the plate.”

“They came in and emptied the house – what was trash they threw in the trash, what was valuable they brought by for my wife,” said Witt. “They did in three days what would’ve taken other people at least two months.”

And now, Barry and his wife, Sandi, and two children, Josh and Kayla, will be able to move back into their house much more quickly than they would have if it weren’t for Consolidated’s Response Team.

“We were told it would be nine months to a year to inspect it, but because of the work that was done here by Coca-Cola Consolidated and the contractors, they feel very confident we’ll be back in the house sooner,” said Witt.

Because of the Response Team’s efforts, and the number of teammate volunteers, the Witt family is one step closer to getting their home back.

The Response Team’s calling to serve others was not only appreciated by Barry and his family. Shannon Durham manages the Food Lion account for Consolidated and she received many notes of appreciation from the Food Lion team for treating one of their associates like a Consolidated teammate.

“What a tremendous effort to serve a member of the community,” said Shannon Durham, Vice President of Customer Management. “I’m proud to work for a company that serves our Purpose at this level.”

“Very few companies, if any others, do this kind of thing,” added Witt. “It really says a lot about Coke Consolidated and their character, from the top down. They worked as a true team. You could just tell they were excited to do what they did, and you could tell that they loved each other and care for each other – and that they cared for us by helping us through this.”

Charlotte FC Announces Partnership with Coca-Cola Consolidated

Brittany Waters2022-04-27T11:22:16-04:00February 22, 2022|Company News|

Charlotte FC today announced a multiyear partnership with Coca-Cola Consolidated, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States, designating it as the Club’s Official Soft Drink and Dasani as the Club’s Official Bottled Water.

The agreement started with the 2022 Inaugural Season Kickoff Tour on February 22, with stops at Levine Children’s Hospital to deliver a pizza party for patients and their families; selected locations of Harris Teeter for a CLTFC fan offer for the Club’s first-ever match on February 26; and a lunch with local media representatives at Three Amigos to commence the inaugural home match week.

“As we move closer to Charlotte FC’s historic match at Bank of America Stadium on March 5, we are proud to welcome a partner like Coca-Cola, a brand that is committed to the world’s most popular sport,” said the CEO of Tepper Sports and Entertainment Nick Kelly. “Our partnership leverages the excitement around the inaugural season of CLTFC and goes beyond the field, as fan engagement efforts will be pivotal as we continue strengthening our ties with the community in Charlotte and across the Carolinas.”

The deal with Coca-Cola Consolidated, headquartered in Charlotte, also includes sponsorship of goal moments during CLTFC home games at Bank of America Stadium, product sampling activations at select matches during the season, and multiple community engagement opportunities.

“As Charlotte’s local bottler we’re honored to be a founding partner for Charlotte FC,” said Heather Hucks, Vice President of Consumer Connections at Coca-Cola Consolidated. “We look forward to refreshing fans throughout the inaugural season and partnering with Charlotte FC to positively impact the Charlotte community.”

The 2022 MLS season marks the historic beginning of Charlotte FC on the pitch. The Club will kick off the season on Saturday, February 26 against D.C. United at Audi Field at 6:00 p.m., followed by the first-ever MLS game at Bank of America Stadium vs. LA Galaxy at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, 2022.   

Coca-Cola Consolidated, Hornets Extend Partnership

Brittany Waters2022-04-27T11:25:06-04:00January 6, 2022|Company News|

The Charlotte Hornets and Coca-Cola Consolidated today announced an extension of their Founding Level Partnership in which the company remains the team’s official and exclusive partner for soft drinks, water, bottled teas and juices, and retains pouring rights for Spectrum Center concession stands. This season, Coca-Cola Consolidated is shifting its promotional assets to Dr Pepper after many years of using this partnership to promote the Sprite brand.

“We are pleased to extend our partnership with Coca-Cola Consolidated and look forward to fully integrating the Dr Pepper brand into our in-arena experience and activations,” said Hornets Sports & Entertainment President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield. “Coca-Cola Consolidated is one of our oldest partners, dating back to the original Hornets, and we are appreciative of their many years of support.”

As part of the partnership, the area formerly known as Rock the Rooftop on Spectrum Center’s 200 level is being rebranded as the Dr Pepper Pavilion and the Pepper Lounge. This interactive area will feature signage and branding, samplings focused on Dr Pepper’s innovative flavors and additional activations. Dr Pepper has also become the entitlement partner of mobile ordering on the Hornets App, a virtual basketball game on the app that translates to the scoreboard, and dunk highlights. The brand is advertised through various types of signage, including fixed signage outside Spectrum Center and in the Main Lobby, as well as digital signage on the scorer’s table, scoreboard and 360 LED boards.

One new element to the partnership between the Hornets and Coca-Cola Consolidated will be a sustainability program that will initially focus on recycling within Spectrum Center. In addition, the two organizations will continue to partner on community initiatives including the Hugo’s Little Hero program in conjunction with Bee Mighty and the NICU and PICU at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital and Dr Pepper will continue to provide drinks for Hornets community events such as the annual Cornucopia event at Thanksgiving.

“As Charlotte’s local bottler, we have refreshed and cheered alongside Hornets fans since the inception of the team over 30 years ago,” said Heather Hucks, VP of Consumer Connections at Coca-Cola Consolidated. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with this community focused organization and are excited to feature Dr Pepper as our lead brand for the team. Dr Pepper’s flagship brand, with its 23 unique flavors, is a perfect fit for the Charlotte Hornets and we can’t wait for fans to see all the fun ways to engage with Dr Pepper inside and outside the arena.”

Dr Pepper also serves as the entitlement partner for the annual Hornets Tipoff Tour, which takes place each year prior to the start of the regular season, and the annual Fan Appreciation Night at the end of each season. In addition, Dr Pepper is the presenting partner of several digital and social media content pieces.

Coke Consolidated Serves KY Teammate Who Lost Home In Tornado

Brittany Waters2022-04-21T16:28:24-04:00December 29, 2021|Community Engagement|

Jimmie Wooten was hunkered down on the bathroom floor holding his wife, LaDonna, the moment before a tornado blew through his home in Benton, Ky. on Dec. 10.

“When it hit… I could feel the power. You could feel the wind come underneath the bathroom door,” said Wooten, who is a Large Store District Sales Manager serving the Paducah area.

The tornado was one of dozens that left a trail of destruction throughout eight states that weekend – destroying homes where families had once shared a lifetime of memories.

“It was a whirlwind that night,” he said.

According to the 17-year Coke Consolidated veteran, the vicious storm that lifted his home from the ground lasted no more than 10 seconds, but the destruction it left behind took nearly a week to cleanup. A cleanup that he and his family did not have to face alone.

The morning after the storm, Wooten got a call from Tony Nunley who leads the Coke Consolidated Response Team. The team, which is made up of volunteer teammates who work in a variety of roles throughout the company, was formed in 2018 with the desire to serve teammates and their families during natural disasters and other setbacks.

“Any time there’s a disaster, we head to the area to see who we can help,” Nunley said. “Our number one goal is teammates and their families.”

By Tuesday, the team was on the ground – helping remove debris from Wooten’s yard and picking up pieces of his family’s life out of the mud.

“I don’t know what we would have done without that team,” Wooten said. “And not just me, but my entire neighborhood because they helped everyone around me.”

Debris from Wooten’s home landed in his neighbors’ yards and the Response Team went door-to-door lending a helping hand in the aftermath of the storm.

“The heart to serve others is just so tremendous and everybody was in complete awe of that,” Wooten said. “So, if there was a stranger who was cold, they would hand them a sweatshirt. If they were thirsty or hungry, they had snacks and they had drinks.”

The team spent about 12 hours a day for six days helping with recovery and cleanup efforts for Wooten and his neighbors.

“We took it to the point where his contractor can start building,” Nunley said. “Any demo that needed to be done, we stayed until all of that was done, and all the debris was out.”

After nearly a week, Wooten’s family and the Response Team ended their cleanup efforts at worship services on Sunday. Wooten, who also lost his brother the same week as the tornadoes, said the team rallied around him and the Company’s Purpose to serve others was a constant source of encouragement.

Coca-Cola Consolidated also supported the Mayfield, Ky. community by donating pallets of Dasani water to first responders who were supporting residents with their recovery efforts.

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About Brittany Waters

Consolidated Partners with Classroom Central to Celebrate 80 Educators During Teacher Appreciation Week

NC Educators Receive School Supplies in Celebration of Teachers Appreciation Week

Response Team Serves Associate of Consolidated Customer Displaced By House Fire

Charlotte FC Announces Partnership with Coca-Cola Consolidated

Coca-Cola Consolidated, Hornets Extend Partnership

Coke Consolidated Serves KY Teammate Who Lost Home In Tornado

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