CES Aledo Raises $650 for Make-A-Wish® at Grand Opening
CES Aledo pulled out all the stops for their grand opening event on April 22. They had giveaways, live music, product demos, free BBQ — and a chance to change a child’s life by making a donation to Make-A-Wish®.
“City Electric Supply challenged each branch to raise $500 for Make-A-Wish by November,” said Chuck Hubbard, branch manager of CES Aledo. “We were able to beat that goal in just four hours.”
During the grand opening, customers either donated right away or said they were coming back to donate later. For Hubbard, hearing them say that was music to his ears.
“Everyone loved seeing us as a company extend the opportunity to donate,” Hubbard said. “They liked that we went out of our way to include them and let them be a driving force to help Make-A-Wish as much as possible.”
For CES Cares Social Impact Manager Karen Gray, it’s a sign of good things to come for this new branch and City Electric Supply. The grand opening at CES Aledo was our first Make-A-Wish event since we announced our partnership in February.
“Raising that amount of money in just four hours at our first Make-A-Wish fundraising event is incredible,” Gray said. “This is just the beginning. We will continue to do our part and help provide wishes for kids with critical illnesses.”
On top of the Make-A-Wish donations, customers were just excited to be back at a renowned CES branch event. Since 2020, there weren’t very many chances to celebrate together.
“It’s amazing to hold the first Make-A-Wish fundraising event and to have our branch host the first grand opening since the pandemic,” Hubbard said. “Everyone was excited to get out, mingle, talk with vendors, and just be a part of this history.”
And customers were also excited to win prizes.
One lucky winner left with the grand prize, a Traeger Pro 575 Wi-Fi Pellet Grill and Smoker. Other raffle prizes included a CES Bucket O’ Tools, an F4P Bluetooth Job Site Speaker, and a $100 Bass Pro Shop gift card.
Welcome to the Family
Philip McKinney, the CES District Manager for Fort Worth, will remember this grand opening for a long time.
“This event still has me fired up,” McKinney laughed. “We had a great turnout. I was extremely excited to meet people in the area. I met a lot of new customers that we haven’t dealt with in the past. The relationships we’ve formed with customers and vendors over the years also made a huge impact on how well everything turned out. You could just feel everyone’s energy.”
And on top of all the customers and vendors who showed their support, City Electric Supply also came out to support their own family.
“Employees from Farmer’s Branch and Plano made an hour-long trip to Aledo,” McKinney said. “Feeling that support was amazing. We’re a family — we really are. We’ll do anything to help our customers and each other.”
“A lot of places preach family, but for us, it’s not a saying or a tagline,” Hubbard added. “It’s our culture.”
And it’s that same culture that has already made CES Aledo a successful branch and big-time Make-A-Wish fundraiser. If you thought they’d stop at $650, you’d be wrong.
“I’m proud of the people who came out to support us and Make-A-Wish,” Hubbard said. “It’s a great cause, and we look forward to seeing how much we can raise this year.”