First responders in Virginia are praising Wegmans for donating food to police who worked to quell the violence that erupted at a weekend rally in Charlottesville.
A Facebook post from Virginia first responders Sunday said "No matter what evil events take place in the world, there will always be acts of service and kindness that rise up and triumph over it."
First responders said they walked into a Wegmans store about two-and-a-half miles from the scene of a white nationalist rally that turned deadly on Saturday. They planned on picking up pizzas for officers who were still working in the aftermath of the incident.
Instead, store managers donated enough hot food and drinks to fill a vehicle that was taken back to the base camp.
First responders came back to the store the next morning to find a series of shopping carts filled with breakfast. The Facebook post said there was enough to feed over 1,000 law enforcement and National Guard troops. They said the store and café managers had called in extra bakers and stayed at work until the early morning to prepare the food.
This time, the first responders refused to accept a donation and insisted on paying for the food.
Wegmans spokesman Jo Natale said store managers act on their own in cases like this. They don't have to ask for corporate permission, she said, because Wegmans wants the communities where its employees and customers live to thrive.
