Local ShopRite Aids In Ending Hunger

RIO GRANDE — Two local ShopRite employees were honored on Tues., March 20 as part of the supermarket’s program to end hunger.
Associates Peggy Abadie of North Cape May and Katlyn Pecoraro of Mays Landing will have their pictures on nearly 200,000 special edition Cheerios boxes due to the local ShopRite’s commitment. Abadie and Pecoraro were chosen to receive the honor by Assistant Manager Janis DiGaetano for their hard work and dedication to the cause. The two also received matching Plexiglas-encased boxes of the special edition Cheerios with their names engraved on the front.
Collectively, the ShopRite of Rio Grande employees managed to raise $14,450 from donations provided by their customers, putting them as one of the top 10 fundraising stores involved in the program.
The theme of the special edition Cheerios box this year is “The $1,000,000 Pursuit,” a goal that was achieved with help from the 240 participating ShopRites across six states.
The program to end hunger is a combined effort from General Mills—the producer of Cheerios—and Partners In Caring—a ShopRite Organization dedicated to end hunger in the neighborhoods served by their store.
Partners In Caring Spokesperson, Orien Reid, stated that with the aid of General Mills and employees like Abadie and Pecoraro, hunger in the area isn’t going unaddressed.
Reid then went on to say that even with recent efforts, approximately 128,000 people in the Congressional District do not receive the adequate food intake to sustain healthy lives.
“Families shouldn’t have to make the decision between paying the rent and buying food,” explained Reid, “Something has to be done, that’s why ShopRite created Partners In Caring.”
Reid also pointed out that ShopRite has, as with General Mills, various partnerships with local food banks in the communities they serve. The Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Southern Branch, is one of said partners. Margie Barham, the Executive Director at the South Branch was present at the presentation, showing great thanks for all the work ShopRite and its employees have done.
According to Barham, the need for food donations is greater than ever, for the food bank has experienced a demand increase of approximately 105 percent in the past five years alone. This massive increase puts the food bank’s yearly distribution at around 7.7 million pounds of food in New Jersey’s southern counties alone.
Other food banks were also present; Cape Human Resources out of Woodbine had Vera Smith comment on ShopRite’s commitment.
“We are very fortunate to have ShopRite help us,” she said, “Each year they donate about $4,000 to our pantry.”
This is the sixth year that the ShopRite of Rio Grande has been a top fundraising store.