The second Walmart Supercenter in Bakersfield opened it’s doors on Wednesday morning. Hundreds of people flocked to Southwest Bakersfield to check out the new 224,000 square foot Walmart that offers the usual merchandise and groceries checking out deals on everything from TVs to tomatoes.

“We had a large group of people ready to come inside and start shopping,” store manager Mike McWilliams said.

500 employees were hired to run the store. On day one, the Supercenter stepped up, giving $15,000 to several community organizations, including a $2500 grant to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Corner Brook’s Wal-Mart and its shoppers raised and donated more than $60,000 in 2009, through in-store fundraising, matching grants, and sponsored activities, benefiting both local community groups and national charities.

Local community organizations that received support varied from sports teams to environmental organizations. They included: Western Memorial Regional Hospital ($2,000), Hampton Playground Committee ($2,000) and Corner Brook Fire Department ($1,755).

St. Vincent Health System and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville on Thursday opened their latest in-store health clinic, The Clinic at Wal-mart, at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 12001 Maumelle Blvd. in North Little Rock.

The clinic, operated by St. Vincent, is billed as a way for customers to get quick access to basic health care services, including check-ups, immunizations, screenings and treatment for minor injuries.

Retail giant Walmart is a long-time supporter of the Children’s Miracle Network, and now employees at one local store are finding new ways to raise money for the cause.

Employees at the Surfside Beach store put together a cook book full of their own recipes, and are now selling the books at registers. They went on sale about three weeks ago, and now there are already plans for a second book.

The Walmart Foundation’s Kansas State Giving Program is accepting grant applications from non-profit organizations across the state. Interested organizations may apply online at www.walmartfoundation.org.

The minimum award for each grant is $25,000. Organizations must currently operate under the tax-exempt status Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code to be eligible.

The world’s largest retailer offered to help Webb Stickney trim energy use at his manufacturing facilities two years ago.

Walmart’s little-known Supplier Energy Efficiency Program (SEEP) promised an energy audit and recommendations for basic technologies that would trim Lone Star Plastics’ electricity bills at sites in Garland, Texas, and Prattville, Ala.

Two lighting retrofits later, Stickney has seen a drop in electricity consumption and is recommending the program to other companies.

“You’re out running your business, fighting the day-to-day battles, and you have someone of this quality saying maybe we can help you out,” said Stickney, Lone Star Plastics’ CEO. “It means a lot.”

Framing for the eighth Wal-Mart along the Grand Strand is rising in Garden City Beach, but don’t get your shopping lists ready just yet.

The 155,147-square-foot store, under construction at the corner of U.S. 17 Business and the Garden City Connector, won’t open until late summer or early fall 2011. It will be a Supercenter with a grocery, pharmacy, deli and optical departments, and when it opens, it will stay open around the clock, Wal-Mart spokesman Glen Wilkins said.

Work also has started on some road improvements around the site aiming to ease the traffic the store is expected to attract. Crews are widening the Garden City Connector and will lengthen the left-turn lane headed north on U.S. 17 Business onto the connector. A stoplight also will be added on the connector at the westernmost entrance to the store.

Wal-Mart is picking up the tab for the improvements, which county leaders say will make the traffic flow easier.

The Wal-Mart Foundation’s Missouri State Giving Program is now accepting grant applications from non-profit organizations across the state. Interested organizations may apply online at www.walmartfoundation.org. The minimum award for each grant is $25,000.

The Wal-Mart Foundation is focused on funding much-needed community programs, especially those that address hunger, homelessness, education, job training and other basic needs. Organizations must currently operate under the tax-exempt status Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

“The Missouri State Giving Program is focused on funding much-needed community programs, especially those that address hunger, homelessness, education, job training and important basic needs,” said Carrie McKnight, Senior Manager of Public Affairs for Wal-Mart.