[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24011-24012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IN RECOGNITION OF RICHARD WOOD

 Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of 
Richard Wood, CEO of Wawa Inc., and to commend him and his company's 
commitment and dedication to Delaware and surrounding States. As CEO of 
Wawa, Richard Wood has instilled in his associates the wisdom to do the 
right thing, and this core value enables the company to place a high 
priority on local community involvement. I thank him for all that he 
and his associates have done to make Delaware a better place.
  The company began in 1803 and was incorporated in 1865 as the 
Millville Manufacturing Company. Millville's owner, George Wood, lived 
in Philadelphia and brought his family to Wawa, a rural town in 
Delaware County, PA. The original house where his family lived had a 
red tile roof, and is now the site of Wawa's present headquarters, 
hence the name ``Red Roof'' for Wawa's corporate offices. In 1902, 
George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and started a small milk 
processing plant in Wawa, specializing in the home delivery of milk. By 
the 1960s, the grandson of George Wood, Grahame Wood, recognized the 
changing economic trends and had the vision to expand by selling milk 
in convenience stores. In April 1964, the first Wawa Food Market was 
opened in Folsom, PA.
  One of the founding principles of Wawa is a commitment to the local 
communities that they serve. Today Wawa's core value of ``people 
helping people'' guides Wawa and its employees to give back to those in 
need. Just some of Wawa's charitable causes include support for 
children's health, cancer research, AIDS research, domestic violence, 
heart disease and hunger. A few of the organizations benefiting from 
the Good Neighbor program include: Food Bank of Delaware, Contact 
Delaware, AIDS Delaware, The United Way and The Salvation Army.
  Wawa has made a tremendous difference in its efforts to raise funds 
to help eliminate Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS, the unexplained 
death of an apparently healthy infant, is the leading cause of death in 
infants between one month and one year of age. This deadly syndrome has 
impacted the lives of countless Delaware families.

[[Page 24012]]

  Since 1997, Wawa and the CJ Foundation for SIDS have held Walk-a-
Thons on the second Sunday in September. Walks are held at 12 locations 
in their five trading areas: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, and Virginia. With the strong support of Wawa area managers, 
supervisors and store personnel, Wawa has raised more than $1.5 million 
over the last 8 years. Not only have Wawa customers, vendors and 
associates given generously of their time to make the SIDS walks an 
enormous success, but countless Wawa associates volunteer to work the 
phone banks in New York City each year for the benefit of the CJ 
Foundation for SIDS Radiothon. Howard Stoeckel, President, and Harry 
McHugh, Senior Vice President, have both spoken on the Radiothon on 
behalf of Wawa and their involvement in the fight against SIDS.
  Money raised at the Wawa Walk-a-Thons is used to fund research to 
find the cause of SIDS and to educate parents on how to reduce the risk 
of SIDS. Proceeds from the walks have helped volunteer grassroots SIDS 
organizations expand to regional professional non-profits. Thousands of 
families have greatly benefited from the national ``Cribs For Kids'' 
program, which receives funding from the Wawa Walk-a-Thons. This 
program distributes cribs to low-income families to help them provide a 
safe sleep environment for their babies.
  Throughout all this, one steady influence has been the leadership of 
Richard Wood, Wawa's CEO, who leads by his example in defining Wawa's 
culture and values. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Richard graduated 
in 1956 from St. Paul's School, Concord, NH. He went on to receive his 
B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia in 1961, and an LLB 
from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1964. After 
graduating from law school, Mr. Wood served as a law clerk for one year 
in the Federal Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for the 
Honorable Francis L. Van Dusen. He then joined the law firm of 
Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads in Philadelphia, PA. In June 
of 1970, Mr. Wood joined Wawa, Inc. as General Counsel. He served in 
various capacities until becoming President in June 1977 and Chief 
Executive Officer in January 1981. Richard and his wife Jean reside in 
Wawa, PA.
  Richard serves on several boards, including the Children's Hospital 
of Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce CEO Council 
for Growth, Pardee Resources Company, and QuikTrip Corporation. He has 
served as director for many organizations, including: Greater 
Philadelphia First, CoreStates Bank, N.A., Sheetz, Inc., Convenience 
Store, Foundation for Education and Research, Globe Ticket Company, 
Millville Savings & Loan Association, Overbrook School for the Blind, 
The Home of the Merciful Savior, The Philadelphia City Institute, 
Philadelphia Charity Ball, Inc., Crime Prevention Association, Upland 
Country Day School, Board of Managers of the Assemblies and Ludwig 
Institute. Richard was also past Board Chairman of the National 
Association of Convenience Stores, PQ Corporation, Riddle Memorial 
Hospital, and Gulph Mills Golf Club (past President).
  Richard Wood will be retiring as Wawa's CEO at the end of 2004, and 
will assume the position of Chairman of the Board of Wawa Inc. I rise 
today to recognize Richard Wood and thank him for his compassion and 
leadership, and for the tremendous contributions he and the associates 
at Wawa have made to Delaware. I thank them for their commitment to 
strengthening all the communities that they serve.

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