Community Corner

Stop & Shop Donates Millions to Local Food Banks

Customers of the Berkeley Heights supermarket helped feed the hungry through Stop & Shop's donation outreach


The hungry in New Jersey got more food to eat, in part because of Stop & Shop and their customers.

The supermarket chain announced that they donated more than $29 million nationwide in 2012 through the goodwill of customers, vendors, and store employees. The recipients of the donations included local hunger-fighting organizations.

In New Jersey, the Community Food Bank of NJ (CFBNJ), located in Hillside, received a grant from Stop and Shop.

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They used the money to expand their Pediatric Pantry Program, a partnership with hospitals in low-income neighborhoods to “prescribe” healthy produce for young children in need.  CFBNJ also increased their Alternative Meals Kids Café Program, which provides healthy meals at after-school sites without access to kitchen facilities.

For 2013, Stop & Shop announced a new three-year commitment to distribute $6 million in “Fighting Child Hunger” grants from Our Family Foundation.

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As part of this initiative, multi-year grants have been awarded to 16 regional food banks and hunger relief related agencies served by Stop & Shop. Each grant recipient submitted a proposal addressing how they believed a “Fighting Child Hunger” grant could best be used to feed more children. These grants target communities with significant need in order to provide healthy meals to children through child care, after school, mobile pantries, and summer programs, as well as other innovative approaches.

“Programs of this nature underscore Stop & Shop’s commitment to the communities we serve and families who are in need,” said Don Sussman, President of Stop & Shop New York Metro Division in a statement. “The close relationships that Stop & Shop has built with these neighborhood-based organizations allow us to make sure that every dollar we donate will be spent wisely and that any family in need will be served by organizations who are experts in the fight against hunger.”

 


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