Bedford Stop & Shop Raises More then $9,500 for Food for Friends Program

The New Hampshire Food Bank is one of several hunger relief agencies throughout the Northeast to benefit from Stop & Shop's 22nd-annual Food for Friends program.

One hundred percent of the nearly $2 million in funds - nearly $10,000 of which was raised at the Bedford Stop & Shop location - has been or will be donated to regional food banks and local pantries as part of the program.

The storewide effort kicked-off on Oct. 28 and ran through Dec. 11, 2011. The program was comprised of 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 in New England area stores. Proceeds were donated to the program and the boxes were donated directly to a local food pantry each store adopts.
• “Trimmings bags” filled with Stop & Shop Own Brands items were sold in New York Metro area stores. Proceeds were donated to the program and the bags were donated directly to Island Harvest, a Long Island food bank.
• Several food and beverage manufacturers contributed donations.
• Stop & Shop contributed a company match of $500 per store.

Sixty percent of the total raised is donated to a local hunger relief agency or food pantry each store adopts; forty percent is donated to regional food banks.

“Food for Friends is an easy way for communities to come together and give food security to those who wouldn’t otherwise have it,” said Mark McGowan, president of Stop & Shop’s New England division. “We are proud to have partnered with our customers and help provide more than 15 million meals to families across the Northeast this winter.”

In total, hundreds of hunger relief agencies and across the Northeast benefited from the donation, including fourteen regional food banks:

• The Greater Boston Food Bank – $220,404
• Connecticut Food Bank – $125,319  
• Foodshare – $92,320
• Rhode Island Community Food Bank – $72,765
• Community Food Bank of New Jersey – $69,733
• Food Bank for New York City – $54,155
• Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties – $39,405
• Worcester County Food Bank – $36,231
• Food Bank of Western Mass. – $45,288
• Long Island Cares – $43,200   
• Island Harvest – $26,563   
• Food Bank of Hudson Valley – $19,267
• New Hampshire Food Bank – $16,551
• Food Bank of Westchester County – $15,611

This past holiday season, Stop & Shop also gifted approximately 20,000 Thanksgiving turkeys to regional food banks and local pantries across the Northeast through its Turkey Express program and supported hunger relief efforts through the Stop & Shop/Giant Family Foundation.

Information regarding money raised in each local Stop & Shop market is available. Please contact Suzi Robinson (New England area) or Arlene Putterman (New York Metro area).

To learn more about Stop & Shop’s hunger relief efforts visit www.stopandshop.com.