LAURENTI'S SHOPRITE RAISES NEARLY $14,000 FOR CHARITIES

BARBARA MURRAY

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Aided by price reductions on key Center Store goods, the Laurenti Family Markets ShopRite here raised almost $14,000 for two charities on a single day, by donating 5% of the day's sales to The American Cancer Society and another 5% to the American Red Cross of the Lehigh Valley.

"We had over 70 people donate their time to work as 'celebrity baggers,"' said Mark Laurenti, president. "They were great!" One of the celebrity baggers was Miss Pennsylvania, Rosalyn Menon, and another was freshman congressman Pat Toomey (R-15-Pa.). Others were local broadcast news and weathercasters and radio personalities.

The event was originally planned as a Grocers Fight Cancer day, but the Red Cross was added as a beneficiary after the attacks by terrorists on Sept. 11.

The customers enjoyed the special atmosphere, and every year this event draws new customers, Laurenti said.

Coke and Turkey Hill ice cream were strong, he said, with specials like a free two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola and Turkey Hill, produced in Pennsylvania, at $1.49 per half gallon. Most people bought one to four bottles of Coke, so offering the free one made sense, Laurenti said.

"It was a home run," he said after the Sept. 25 event.