ShopRite Associates Fight Hunger and Land Spot on Cheerios Box

Every September, thousands of ShopRite associates compete in a friendly competition to fight hunger – the ShopRite Partners In Caring Cheerios Contest. Sponsored by ShopRite and General Mills, this year’s theme was “Fighting hunger from the heart – together we can make a difference.” ShopRite associates collected donations at check-out and held events in stores to raise awareness and money for this cause.
ShopRite of Rio Grande is among the top 40 winning stores which raised the most money. This landed two of its associates a spot on 150,000 special-edition Cheerios boxes. The featured associates are Jennifer Ashbridge of the Villas, part of the grocery night crew, and Beverly Nixon of Woodbine, front end runner. Janice DiGaetano, ShopRite of Rio Grande Assistant Manager, shares that she chose these two associates because they go above and beyond in both everyday duties and the initiative to fight hunger. The box was revealed at ShopRite of Rio Grande during a ceremony on March 29.
ShopRite of Rio Grande raised a total of $9,857 through in-store donations, a beef and beer, a bowling tournament, sales at North Wildwood’s Irish Festival, the annual ‘Bag for Hunger’ day and more. In total, all ShopRite associates raised $1.4 million to support local food banks.
For ShopRite of Rio Grande, being among the top winning stores is a longstanding tradition. This year marks the ninth time ShopRite of Rio Grande associates are featured on the special-edition Cheerios box. Additionally, ShopRite of Rio Grande has been on this Cheerios box more times than any of the 28 other ShopRites owned by Village Supermarkets. You can find these past boxes proudly displayed in the Rio Grande store.
As a winning store, ShopRite of Rio Grande received $500 and donated it to the Bethel Commandment Church of the Living God of New Jersey in Whitesboro.
Many people in attendance at the ceremony mentioned that being a winning store wouldn’t be possible without Janice. Her passion to fight hunger spreads to the associates, and it enables them to work together and make an impact in the community year after year.