Stop & Shop has announced that its 31st annual Food for Friends campaign raised more than $2 million for its 12 regional food bank partners to combat summer hunger in the communities it serves, breaking all previous years’ donation records, including $63,192.50 to Feeding Westchester.
Summer can be the hungriest time of year for kids. While during the school year families’ rely on free or reduced-priced meals at school, families have to buy more food when school is out, and children are at home – creating additional financial strain and sometimes forcing them to go hungry. An annual summer donation program, Stop & Shop’s Food for Friends campaign allows customers at the grocer’s 400+ stores throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island to donate at checkout to support food insecure families across the Northeast.
Customers who shopped in stores and online were asked if they would like to round up their total to the nearest dollar or donate an additional $1, $3, or $5, and Stop & Shop donated 100% of the change to Feeding Westchester and other regional food banks across its footprint. In addition to the in-store and online components of the campaign, customers were also able to donate non-perishable food items such as Knorr® rice and pasta sides, cereals, and canned goods at the Food for Friends donation bins that are located at each Stop & Shop store to benefit local hunger-relief organizations.
