In The Spotlight: Sam's Club

Foodshare has had a very special relationship with the greater Hartford Sam’s Clubs for many years.  Since the partnership first began through Feeding America in 2000, the Manchester and Newington  stores have been responsible for recovering more than 1,000,000 pounds of nutritious food, and providing over 769,000 meals!

In addition to this incredible amount of food, both general managers and their teams have focused on expanding the partnership, continuing to ask how else they can help people in need. As a result:

• Last year both clubs began inviting Foodshare to periodic morning meetings to keep their teams abreast of the growing need and the role both the company and individual team members can play in our mission to end hunger.
• Last year was also the first year they participated in our annual Recognition Breakfast and Food Industry Convoy of Caring.
• And this week, as Hurricane Irene barreled towards Connecticut, and the two stores were notified that they were going to be able to increase their charitable donations by $1,000, they thought of Foodshare. Each club had to determine how the funds would be used most efficiently and which organization they felt would have the most impact. “With the number of outages, I immediately thought of our shelters and the stress it would put on those resources. Also, since we already have an existing relationship [with Foodshare] I felt that we could get the needed supplies into the pipeline faster when it's needed most, so we donated the extra $1,000 in food to Foodshare," said Jeff DePascale, the Manchester Sam’s Club General Manager.

We thank Sam's Club and the many employees who invest so much time and money to fighting hunger in our region. And for remembering how important our work is, especially during a time when Mother Nature strikes!