Spreading Appreciation: National Supermarket Employee Day

The average supermarket requires about 26-37 employees per location, with about 2.72 million workers across the U.S in 2023, with that number rising over the years as the nations population increases. Supermarkets are a huge part of American culture and are used by nearly everyone and these workers are essential to the success of those supermarkets. However, the people working in these markets rarely get recognized or appreciated. The Project of a Smile will be traveling across Missoula, Montana on National Supermarket Employee Day (February 22, 2026) to spread smiles to these very underappreciated workers.

The Importance of Showing Appreciation

Showing appreciation is essential for several reasons:

• Motivation: Appreciated individuals are more likely to go the "extra mile," feel inspired to do great work, and stay engaged. This helps both the person feeling the recognition and the people being helped by the employees efforts.

• Mental and Physical Health: It has been shown that feeling appreciated leads to stronger mental and physical health. That sense of recognition leads someone to feeling happier and more content in their endeavors. It also helps a persons physical health by reducing stress, and reenforcing positive behaviors, such as contributing to a job.

• Effort Validation: The purpose of showing appreciation is to help someone feel recognized and validated. Showing a person that the time and effort they put into a situation is being seen.

  
  

The Steps and Process of This Event

This event will consist of traveling around the city of Missoula with prepared appreciation bags, then handing them to many workers with a smile. The preparation will involve these listed actions:

1. Planning

   The first step will be to plan out a detailed agenda and map for the day. This will ensure that every place and person that needs this appreciation will get that. This step is also essential before the others to make sure that there is the correct number of bags created.

   
   

2. Appreciation Bag-Decisions

   Now that a plan for who and where is set the next step is to make decisions on the appreciation bags contents. Research will be conducted on what, exactly, makes people feel appreciated. Then decisions will be set as the what will be handed out in the action step.

   
   

3. Appreciation Bag-Creation

   The final step of of this prosses before the action step is to create the appreciation bags. That may consist of creating any handmade objects or shopping for other contents.

   
   

4. Action

   The final step in this prosses is competed on the designated national day, February 22. The completed bags will passed out, with a smile, according to pre-planned map. This step is the most influential and is the day that The Project of a Smile exercise its mission.

A friendly worker helping a customer in a supermarket.

Credit: Jeff Toister, The Service Culture Guild

The Project of a Smile's Goal Through This Event

The Project of a Smile always strives to help everyday people who deserve a smile. Through this event, we will continue with that mission, through empowering people who work in supermarkets. They will each receive an appreciation bag, and a smile from the person handing it.

How You Can Help

The Project of a Smile is always looking for help and support from the community. Here are some ways you can help:

1. Spread the Word and Follow Us on Social Media

   The best way to support our efforts is to just keep talking. Tell people about The Project of a Smile and our mission. We want to help as many people as we can, hoping to keeps spreading smiles. You can also follow us on social media, including Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook, all under variations of the user name @TheProjectofaSmile. Links to our Social Media are also under the connection tab on our website.

   
   

2. Stay Tuned on Upcoming Events

   The Project of a Smile does a minimum of 15 events a year, all of which will be regularly communicated on our website. Many events will have the opportunity to help with steps in the prosses, such as the action step and accepting donations.

   
   

3. Give Us Input

   This project is 100% for the community, so we would love your input. Feel encouraged to find our content tab and reach out to us anyway easiest for you. Give us helpful input on our events, our missions or on our impact on the community.

   
   

Conclusion

Spreading smiles and uplifting our community is and will always be The Project of a Smile's goal and purpose. This event, and future events like it are how we execute our mission for the community, thank you for your support.