Save Mart Launches Annual Food Drive

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

MODESTO, Calif. — Save Mart Supermarkets here said yesterday it is launching its annual holiday food drive, aimed at providing more than 265,000 meals through local food banks. At store level, customers will be able to purchase prepackaged bags of groceries for $10 or $20 containing a variety of private-label staples; those bags, and any other food items shoppers opt to purchase, will be placed in collection barrels and delivered by the Kiwanis Club to area food banks. Consumers will also be able to donate canned goods at this weekend’s football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Carolina Panthers, the chain said; and the chain’s Lucky Supermarkets division in the Bay Area will also work with members of the Golden State Warriors basketball team to distribute the ingredients for complete Thanksgiving dinners, including frozen turkeys, stuffing and other foods, to 300 families later this month. According to Steve Junqueiro, chief operating officer, “We are faced with hunger in our communities every day, and the need becomes much greater during the holiday season, particularly in this year’s struggling economy. We are appealing to our customers and hope their generosity will fill the barrels and fill the warehouses at their local food bank.”

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