Lauren Kutschka, Gene Roeglin, Nikki Chellew accepted the Spirit of Puget Sound Award for Costco.

United Way of King County awarded the prestigious Spirit of Caring Awards on March 3 in front of a crowded ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Honorees included individuals and corporations who represented the best in giving and volunteering.

Costco Wholesale received the Spirit of Puget Sound Award, recognized as King County’s highest achievement in corporate philanthropy. The award honors outstanding community involvement, sustained campaign excellence, and the promotion of volunteerism.

For the 2009-2010 campaign season, the employees of Costco showed incredible heart, and boundless generosity. Chairman Jeff Brotman’s and CEO Jim Sinegal’s strong leadership and commitment to United Way of King County resonated throughout the company, and made this campaign year an exceptional success. Leadership Giving levels (gifts of $1,000 and above) jumped seven percent company-wide, and overall participation was 84 percent—a 33 percent increase company-wide.

At the campaign kickoff at Costco’s Issaquah headquarters, Seahawks players Lofa Tatupu and Deon Grant joined with Seahawks CEO Todd Leiweke to get the crowd primed for a winning season. Adding to Costco’s campaign’s success was its innovative new giving strategy utilizing the Express Pledge System. This point-of sale pledge system for employees enabled gifts to go directly to United Way of King County in $5 increments—generating nearly $60,000.

In all, Costco’s Northwest region raised $3.7 million for United Way of King County during their superb campaign. Costco employees also gave generously of their time, volunteering at last year’s Day of Caring. In addition, Senior Vice President of Depot Operations John Thelan joined the “Climb for the Community” team, and Costco stepped up in a big way to support the Response for Basic Needs and help people hurt by the economic downturn by pledging $100,000 during the Climb.

About 420,000 families receive food stamps in Washington, up 30 percent from a year ago.

Before the New York pilots, Costco execs were skeptical that any of their customers would use food stamps. However, the tests showed that they would if given the opportunity.

“The rules are different today,” CEO Jim Sinegal said. “People who were in good shape financially all of the sudden are needing some assistance.”

The climbers:

The guides:

Be a part of the Climb for the Community by giving $5 and asking 5 of your friends to join you. It’s a small way to make a BIG impact in people’s lives.