ShopRite Partners In Caring

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Can you imagine being hungry? I don’t mean hungry as in wanting a snack. I mean hungry as in going without food because you don’t have any. Hunger causes weak immune systems, fatigue, depression and cognitive and behavioral development problems. It’s a sad thought isn’t it? I think of some of the commercials on television asking people to fight hunger and until last year I never really thought of hunger as being an issue in my community.

According to Feeding America more than 36 million Americans (11 percent of U.S. households) do not know when or what their next meal will be. Of that number, more than one third are children and seniors. The rates of food insecurity within areas close to me shocked and saddened me.

• New Jersey – 7.7%
• Delaware – 7.8%
• Maryland – 9.5%
• Connecticut – 8.6%
• Pennsylvania – 10%
• New York – 9.8%

There are ways to fight hunger. ShopRite has been trying to fight hunger for more than twenty years, first as part of the Feeding America network (formerly America’s Second Harvest) and the Checkout Hunger program. In 1999 ShopRite took their desire to fight hunger in the areas they serve to another level by creating ShopRite Partners In Caring (SRPIC). General Mills has been one of the program’s most supportive vendors. The ShopRite Partners In Caring program has donated more than $20 million to the 23 regional food banks and more than 1,400 charitable agencies it. The donations go to emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, child care centers, battered women’s shelters, senior programs, programs for the mentally and physically disabled, drug rehab centers and after school programs. The program has received awards including

• Good Neighbor Award – Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
• Retailer of the Year Award – America’s Second Harvest/Feeding America
• Outstanding Achievement Award – Hudson Valley Food Bank
• Crystal Toque Award – Philadelphia and South Jersey
• Outstanding Spirit Award – Monmouth and Ocean County Food Bank
• Connecticut Food Bank – Bill Liddell Award
• Corporate Excellence Award – Food Bank for New York City

217 ShopRite stores across the six states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland are a part of this much needed program. When we shop in these stores and buy items marked with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf label we are supporting ShopRite and more than fifty vendors participate in the program. So the bags of groceries feed not only our families, but they also help feed people suffering from hunger. For more on the program, visit www.ShopRitePartnersInCaring.org.

Please join me in the fight against hunger. General Mills and ShopRite will donate one box of cereal to a food bank in ShopRite’s trading area for the first 30 comments I receive on this post. Also, please consider making a donation, which you can do on the ShopRite Partners In Caring site or by mail. A $1 donation can purchase 10 pounds of food from a food bank. a little bit truly can go a long way. And one person can make a difference.