ShopRite and its Customers Raise Money for Check-out Hunger

According to Feed America, more forty-nine million Americans experienced food insecurity in 2010.  More than sixteen million of them were children. In a tireless effort to combat these statistics and end hunger in our time, ShopRite associates and loyal customers together raised a record-breaking $750,000 in the 2011 annual Check-Out Hunger fundraiser. Each year, ShopRite stores compete to raise funds for this worthy cause and the donations benefit local food banks in ShopRite communities across CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE and Maryland. The top four winning stores for this year’s contest are all located in Connecticut and are owned by Milford Markets, a family business operated by the Garafalo family of Milford, Connecticut. ShopRite stores in Connecticut raised an outstanding donation of $123,964, which will be presented to Nancy Carrington, president and CEO of the Connecticut Food Bank at the ShopRite of Hamden on Thursday, April 26th at 1 PM. “We are very proud of our associates and so grateful to our customers for this year’s most generous contributions to feed the hungry,” said Harry Garafalo, president of Milford Markets and member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Food Bank. “My family and I have been working closely with the Connecticut Food Bank, supporting them in their mission to provide food to our neighbors in need. We are honored that our stores have played such an integral part in this year’s Check Out Hunger event.” Check-Out Hunger, a national fundraising campaign, donates 100 percent of all funds raised to local hunger-fighting charities.  From October through December of last year, ShopRite shoppers added a $1, $3, or $5 donation to their bill at the checkout aisle, helping to raise funds for food banks in ShopRite’s trading areas across six states. Year after year, ShopRite associates work tirelessly at checkout lanes to ensure that Check-Out Hunger contributions continue to be a major source of funding for local food banks. The Check-Out Hunger program is the perfect complement to ShopRite’s year-round, community-based, hunger-fighting initiative, ShopRite Partners In Caring.  Since 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated $28 million to more than 1,700 charities, including food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other organizations that aid those in need.