Clark’s Cares: Connecting Our Stores, Our Customers, and Our Communities
“My mom, Susan, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when she was 40. While the signs and symptoms were at first minimal, her life quickly changed as she began to experience extreme fatigue, sensory issues, an electric-shock sensation running through her limbs, vision problems, mobility and muscle issues and clear cognitive and emotional changes.
Her balance was so impaired that I would often explain to people that she looks like she has had three glasses of wine at lunch, but she’s stone sober and doing the best to make her legs work. She describes walking as, “Using every ounce of concentration to tell her left leg to pick up and take a step forward, and not knowing if the brain and leg will connect.”
My mom was a Junior Olympic swimmer and skier, and she has been an athlete at heart for her entire life. When I moved to Aspen in 2014, she said to me that if she had one dream, it would be to ski down the mountain on her own again.
A community member encouraged me to contact Challenge Aspen—I had never heard of them and didn’t know what they did. Thankfully, I called anyway. In 2016, my mom skied again. Challenge Aspen was able to help her with adaptive ski equipment and instructors who knew exactly how to support her in skiing on her own for the first time in more than two decades.
Naturally, when I joined Clark’s Market and realized that Challenge Aspen was a Clark’s Cares recipient over the years, it brought the “why” of Clark’s Cares full circle.”
- Samantha Johnston, Chief Marketing Officer
Clark’s Cares: Connecting Our Stores, Our Customers, and Our Communities
At Clark’s Market, being a neighborhood grocery store means more than providing great food. It means being part of the community — supporting the people, organizations, and causes that make our towns the special places that they are.
That’s the spirit behind Clark’s Cares, our bi-annual community partnership program designed to bring together local nonprofits, our customers, and our stores in a meaningful way. Clark’s Cars creates opportunities for customers to support local organizations simply by doing something they already do shop for groceries.
What Is Clark’s Cares?
In conjunction with Clark’s Perks—a bi-annual storewide sale—Clark’s Cares is a program to donate a percentage of sales on select Mondays to local nonprofit organizations.
During these designated Clark’s Cares days:
- Customers shop in-store as they normally would
- A percentage of their purchase supports a local nonprofit
- Nonprofits join us in-store to connect with the community
It’s a simple but powerful idea: even a routine grocery trip can help support a cause doing good in our community and connect neighbors to organizations they already know and love or introduce them to organizations with which they are not familiar.
Participating organizations typically:
- Set up a table or booth inside the store
- Have volunteers present for 2–3 hours
- Share information about their programs and impact
- Talk with customers about the work they do
- Participate in coordinated social media promotion
These moments create something special — an opportunity for neighbors to learn about and support the organizations that are making a difference right where they live.
Through Clark’s Cares, we proudly partner with local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that are working every day to make a positive impact.
Our giving priorities focus on organizations that support:
- Youth enrichment
- Sustainability
- Food insecurity
- Community improvement
These areas reflect the values we share with the communities we serve.
How Nonprofits Can Participate
Local nonprofit organizations interested in being part of Clark’s Cares are encouraged to apply through the Clark’s Market website: https://www2.clarksmarket.com/clarks-cares
Submitting a request signals that your organization is ready to collaborate with our team and actively participate in the program.
Selected organizations will:
- Be scheduled for one or more Clark’s Cares Mondays
- Work with our marketing team to coordinate promotion
- Connect with customers in-store during the event
- Share their mission and impact with the community
Clark’s Cares dates are announced in advance, and participating nonprofits are contacted directly to confirm details.
A Community Effort
Every time a customer shops on a Clark’s Cares day, they help support organizations doing incredible work in our communities. Whether it’s helping young people thrive, protecting our environment, addressing food insecurity, or strengthening community spaces, these organizations play an essential role in the places we call home.
Clark’s Cares is one small way we can work together — stores, customers, and nonprofits — to make our communities even stronger.
We invite you to shop, connect, and support local causes through Clark’s Cares.
And if you’re part of a nonprofit organization working to improve your community, we encourage you to apply and join us in building something meaningful together.