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Stop & Shop Customers Raise $1.8 Million through Annual Food for Friends Program
Grocery Headquarters Staff
January 1, 2018
3 Min Read
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company announced the success of its 23rd annual Food for Friends program, which raised $1.8 million by the end of 2012 for local hunger relief organizations throughout the Northeast. Stop & Shop customers, associates and partners supported the program and 100 percent of the funds raised will go directly to community food pantries and regional food banks. The chain-wide effort kicked off this past summer with the Healthy Ideas Food for Friends program, and continued in November with several different elements:
Customers could contribute through in-store donations of $1, $3 or $5 at checkout registers;
Charity Boxes filled with Stop & Shop Own Brands items were sold chain-wide; boxes were donated directly to a local food pantry adopted by a store and any additional proceeds going back into the program. This year, more than 75,000 boxes were donated by Stop & Shop customers;
Kraft and Unilever contributed several hundred thousand coupon booklets worth $10 to reward customers who donated
Stop & Shop contributed a company match of $500 per store.
"As a supermarket, fighting food insecurity is one of our core charitable focuses and the Food for Friends program is an easy way to raise the issue more broadly with our customers and really work as partners to give back," said Joe Kelley, president of Stop & Shop's New England division. "We are so proud of our customers and so grateful for their help in our mission to help fight hunger in our communities." Of the $1.8 million raised, 60 percent is donated to the local hunger relief agency or food pantry each store adopts and 40 percent is donated to 14 regional food banks, including the following: Massachusetts, $749,595 total. Food banks include:
The Greater Boston Food Bank - $218,881.74
Worcester County Food Bank - $35,980.56
Food Bank of Western Mass. - $44,975.70
Connecticut, $469,146 total. Food banks include:
Connecticut Food Bank - $104,393
Foodshare - $91,043.52
New York, $182,405 total. Food banks include:
Food Bank for New York City - $25,769
Long Island Cares - $51,991
Island Harvest - $32,170
Food Bank of Hudson Valley - $18,560
Food Bank of Westchester County - $16,294
Rhode Island, $168,043 total. Food banks include:
Rhode Island Community Food Bank - $67,217.20
New Jersey, $149,453 total. Food banks include:
Community Food Bank of New Jersey - $62,127
Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties - $18,737
New Hampshire, $28,058 total. Food banks include:
New Hampshire Food Bank - $11,223.20
The top stores that raised significant amounts of donations this year include:
498 Bushy Hill Rd, Simsbury, CT - $12,076
91 Point Judith Road, Narragansett, RI - $11,942
505 N. Main St., Southington, CT - $11,098
In addition to the Food for Friends program, Stop & Shop supported hunger relief organizations by donating more than 20,000 turkeys through its Turkey Express program this past fall and hunger relief efforts through the Stop & Shop Our Family Foundation. "Stop & Shop has a long tradition of supporting the communities in which we serve and fighting hunger in those communities is one of our top priorities. Hurricane Sandy hit the New York metro area when we launched our Food for Friends program and more than ever before our customers and associates continued to help make a difference to families struggling to put food on their table during such a devastating time," said Don Sussman, president of Stop & Shop's New York Metro Division.
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