IGA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS GRADUATE FROM US SPACE CAMP^®

81 “Hometown Proud” kids complete five-day program

CHICAGO, IL - IGA announced today 81 children from IGA communities around the country graduated from U.S. Space Camp on Friday, August 22 in Huntsville, Ala. The children were winners of the IGA Explore the Store Space Camp Scholarship Program, the largest privately funded scholarship program offered in the United States for space exploration.

IGA, INC, IGA Retailers and Red Oval Family sponsors purchased the reduced rate trips to be awarded during the annual IGA Explore the Store marketing event’s essay contest. Participating children between the ages of nine and 12 were required to submit a 300-500 word essay answering the question, “How can space exploration benefit your hometown.” In all, IGA received close to a thousand entries.

The children engaged a five-day team-focused program composed of a mix of spaceflight history and hands-on, interactive space simulation. The team spirit was solidified as campers participated in communications and trust exercises, designed a mission patch specific to their team, and trained in the Intrepid Space Shuttle Mission simulator. During Missions, team members alternated between the Space Shuttle crew and Mission Control, experiencing how a launch would feel from both sides.

“I was truly amazed to see just how authentic the whole Space Camp program was,” said IGA Area Director Bill Overman, who attended graduation and toured the facility for the first time. “There is no doubt in my mind that these kids experience the trip of a lifetime. Once you learn about the curriculum and see the joy on their faces, you understand just how well this sponsorship money is actually spent.”

“We’re proud of the investment IGA is making in the futures of so many children,” said Larry Capps, CEO of U.S. Space Camp. “Many will take what they’ve learned at SPACE CAMP and go on to high-tech careers as scientists, engineers and explorers. It’s entirely possible a future astronaut will one day be asked to look back and describe the turning point in his or her life, and remember the time they spent here, thanks to IGA. We know at the very least the children return home excited over what they have learned, and with a new thirst to learn even more.”

Thanks to the combined efforts of IGA and U.S. Space Camp, 183 children have been awarded full scholarships to U.S. Space Camp over the last three years.

IGA, the only global supermarketer based in the United States, is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year. The Alliance includes more than 4,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more the 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers encompassing everything from grocery to equipment items. IGA ranks in the top 10 in world food supermarketing. IGA has operations in 48 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.