Our Value Champion program recognizes 25 employees across Canada each year that, through their decisions and actions, bring our core values to life every day.

Jen Barrett, grocery clerk at Safeway 100 Mile House, was recently named a Sobeys Value Champion for going above and beyond for her coworkers and her community during last summer’s wildfires in British Columbia.

Barrett, who has worked at Safeway for 25 years, showed her commitment to the community by making sure her coworkers were accounted for and knew where to go for help after the community of 100 Mile House was evacuated. She also coordinated passes through the roadblocks so she could get to the store to keep it clean, check temperatures of the refrigerators and rotate inventory.

Store manager Jon Graham, who joined Jen in-store to prepare for the heavy demand for food and supplies, praised Jen’s efforts during a difficult time.

“She just knew that there were people that needed the resources that we could offer and she felt the only way that could happen was by her doing her fair share,” said Graham. “She did that plus more.”

Barrett and Graham cycled between cleaning and helping fill shopping carts to bring to emergency responders and residents in areas that were cut off from the rest of the community because of roadblocks.

“It’s just something that a person does, I believe. You just want to make sure that everybody’s fed,” said Barrett.

Hatty Thompson, the second assistant store manager at Safeway Williams Lake, was also named a Value Champion for her relief efforts in the community of Williams Lake, B.C. during last summer’s wildfires. Hatty was instrumental in ensuring her community had access to food during and after the wildfires.

Marnie Millership, her store manager, said Thompson was at the store during the evacuation helping get food to the community and played a huge role in preparing the store to be re-opened.

Barrett, Thompson and the other Value Champions from across Canada will be flown to Halifax in November to be honoured at our National Gala.

Safeway has a long history of being a community leader and being there for our customers when they need us most. We are extremely proud of Jen Barrett and Hatty Thompson for going the extra mile for their communities and leading by example.

Congratulations to Jen and Hatty on being named Value Champions.

This article is adapted from a story that originally appeared in 100 Mile Free Press.