In The Spotlight: Wakefern Corporation & ShopRite

For at least 10 years ShopRite and the Wakefern Corporation have been supporting Foodshare’s mission to end hunger in a variety of ways.  Each ShopRite is family-owned and operated, and as such, they have always been active in their communities.

Whether it’s the Cohen family stores in Manchester and East Hartford, who first began partnering with Foodshare in 1999 as a food donor, or the Tornaquindici ShopRite of Bristol who followed suit in 2003, ShopRite has been an important partner for years.

Each fall, in addition to participating in the Food Industry Convoy of Caring, ShopRite's Check Out Hunger campaign raises funds for food banks such as Foodshare.  Customers are given the opportunity to make a donation at the register by adding $1, $3 or $5 to their food bill. The 2010 campaign was a huge success with the greater Hartford ShopRites raising almost $15,000 for Foodshare!

Several stores are involved in our food recovery program...rather than discarding meat and canned goods which have surpassed the in-store ‘shelf life’, they save it for Foodshare to pick-up. Through a close inspection process, most of the food is determined to be perfectly good and is then distributed through local partner agencies to our 128,000 hungry neighbors living in Hartford and Tolland Counties. Chuck Joseph, of the Canton and West Hartford stores, has even offered to discuss a possible expansion of the recovery program to include other categories of food such as produce and dairy.

The Miller family, owners of the Enfield Shop Rite, not only volunteer regularly in the community at the Enfield Food Shelf and the Enfield Loaves and Fishes, but they also formed their own Walk Against Hunger Team this year and matched every dollar raised with 50 cents of their own!

Thanks to our local ShopRites and the Wakefern Corporation for your anti-hunger efforts year after year!