The buzz of Brown County

10 SOURCE | Winter 2015
The buzz of Brown County
FAST STOP® is fueling the future of the Hornets
Mary Auth, affiliated marketing and public relations strategies
Drawing inspiration from two other FS
retailers, Prairieland FS, Inc. initiated a
program this school year to help fund
the return of Ag programs and to support
other activities at Brown County, Illinois
schools. The “Fuel Our Future” program
provides one cent from every gallon of
gasoline sold at Prairieland’s Mt. Sterling
FAST STOP to the Brown County School
District.
The logo for the program
features the Hornet, Brown
County School District’s mascot.
“We were first approached by the FAST
STOP folks last summer. They wanted
to know if there was any way they could
help the schools financially,” Vicki Phillips,
superintendent for the school district said.
Since the district was putting together
a new agriculture program, they were
excited to partner with the FAST STOP.
“The FAST STOP employees were willing
to work with us to help direct some of the
funding toward leadership programs and
supplies,” Phillips added. For the first and
second quarters of the year, funds are
going toward the local high school’s FFA
program and the middle school’s student
council. In the third quarter, the Brown
County elementary school will use the
SOURCE | Winter 2015 11
Annawan and the Sages
Chris Moore passes out bags at a Halloween
party at the elementary school.
Chris Moore and elementary school students
show off the “Fuel our Future” banner.
A wooden drink chip was included in the
Halloween bags and was redeemable for
a free drink at the Mt. Sterling FAST STOP.
funds for books. For the fourth quarter, the donation will be divided equally
among the Ag program, high school student council, and the band program.
According to Lainey Latta, energy and marketing communications assistant
for Prairieland FS, “Cultivating leaders in programs like FFA and working
with communities is one of the core cooperative principles that Prairieland
operates under. And with the participation of our customers, it’s truly a
community effort.”
Since the program began in August 2014, the FAST STOP has raised more
than $1,800 for the “Fuel Our Future” program. To help promote the program,
Chris Moore, the location manager, delivered more than 350 Halloween bags
to the elementary school. The bags contained a flier about the program and a
wooden drink chip, redeemable at the Mt. Sterling FAST STOP.
“I hope the program will be beneficial to FS, because it has been beneficial
for us,” Phillips added.
Readers can watch the progress of the “Fuel Our Future” program on the
Prairieland FS Facebook page: facebook.com/PrairielandFS
Gold Star FS, Inc. of Cambridge,
Illinois was the first FS retailer to
pair fuel sales with school donations.
Their “Fuel Your School” program
is in its second year and provides
funding to the Annawan School
District for technology updates.
Gold Star donates one cent per
gallon for fuel purchases paid with
a FAST STOP FUEL 24 card. In the
2013-14 school year, Gold Star FS
donated $2,500. For the first quarter
of this year, they have presented the
Annawan School District $1,500.
In the same vein, Piatt County
Service Company in Monticello,
Illinois is supporting the Monticello
Sages. To get the program started,
any new FUEL 24 cardholder gets
two cents off a gallon for the first
year of the program and existing
card holders save one cent per
gallon of diesel or gasoline. The
Monticello School District receives
a penny per gallon sold when the
customer uses their FUEL 24 card.
Since September 2014, 78 new FUEL
24 cards have been issued by Piatt
County Service Company.
The Monticello School District
receives donations from Piatt County
Service Company as part of their
“Fuel the Sages” program.