The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is fortunate to have the partnership of the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company. Many Stop & Shop stores in North Jersey participate in CFBNJ’s Retail Gleaning Program, allowing us to regularly obtain nutritious donated food. This food is then distributed to those in need through our own feeding programs and through member agencies. In the last 12 months, Stop & Shop collectively donated more than 350,000 pounds of groceries to this program.
Through its Our Family Foundation, Stop & Shop has provided generous grant funding for two important FoodBank feeding programs. One is our Pediatric Pantries, in which outpatient families of medical centers in three urban communities—Newark, Elizabeth and Paterson—receive approximately 50 pounds of groceries every month. This is one of the ways CFBNJ addresses the strong connection between good nutrition and good health. Also funded by these grants is our Kids Cafés, in which children from low-income communities receive a nutritious meal each school day, in the nurturing environment of their after-school program.
Stop & Shop’s New York Metro stores collect financial donations every year through their Food for Friends campaign, which benefits food banks including the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. CFBNJ also benefits from the expertise of Michelle Castellana, Director of Human Resources for the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, who is a member of our board of directors.
Thank you, Stop & Shop, for your broad-based partnership with the Community FoodBank, as together we bring food, help and hope to those in need.