'We're here for you.' Wawa offers free coffee to first responders, health care workers during coronavirus pandemic

As a way to say thank you to the first responders and health care workers who are keeping our communities safe during the coronavirus pandemic, Wawa has announced it will be offering free coffee to help fuel their shifts during the crisis, according to Wawa President and CEO Chris Gheysens.

Starting Thursday, March 26, all stores will be providing all health care workers and first responders with free coffee, Gheysens announced.

"At Wawa we have always been committed to serving our emergency responders. Particularly during this unprecedented time, we want to say 'we're here for you.'"

"We want to salute the many health care heroes who are doing great work throughout our communities. From Main Line Health to CHOP to Penn Medicine to Jefferson in Philadelphia. From Orlando Health to Winter Haven in Florida. From Virtua Health System to Bay Shore Medical in New Jersey. From Johns Hopkins to MedStar in Maryland and Virginia and Christiana Health in Delaware. These are just some of our partners who are also truly amazing health care systems now on the front lines of this crisis. You have our deepest thanks and gratitude. And in honor of your service to the community, starting this Thursday, March 26th, all of our stores will be providing all health care workers and first responders with free coffee to fuel their shifts during this crisis," Gheysens said.

Wawa also highlighted significant changes in stores to provide safety to customers and its employees.

"In addition to our enhanced cleaning and sanitations protocols and previously implemented in-store precautions, over the next week we are adding some extra measures to ensure we are supporting the most up-to-date recommendations, with a specific focus on social distancing."

"We have already begun asking customers and associates to maintain a distance of 6 ft. from each other inside the store supported through helpful in-store signage, announcements and videos. We are enhancing and reinforcing this effort with visual floor markers to support maintaining a healthy distance and with distancing aids, in the form of clear, plastic shields, at our check-out counters."

Wawa also announced it has taken steps to help support associates during this time including additional pay and continuing to review and update paid time off policies to be more flexible and supportive during COVID19.