ShopRite warehouses help feed the hungry in New Jersey.
Even with all the technological progress in the 21st century, there are still plenty of New Jersey residents struggling to feed their families. More than one million residents of the Garden State are food insecure. They depend on assistance for their meals, often turning to New Jersey’s emergency food providers, such as food pantries and soup kitchens.
For decades, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the state’s largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, has been working tirelessly to fight hunger. ShopRite has been a trusted partner of the food bank for four decades, providing food and funds to help the hungry in New Jersey, while also reducing food waste.
ShopRite’s warehouse food recovery process allows the company to glean and divert tons of fresh, safe and edible food from entering landfills. Associates work with the Community FoodBank to ensure the excess food ends up with the individuals and families who need it most.
“Our donations include excess food, food that no longer meets the expiration qualifications for our retail stores, or food that may have experienced some package damage,” said Thomas Roy, vice president of Logistics for ShopRite. “This type of food rescue enables us to provide healthy and viable food to those who are at risk of hunger.”
Roy helps oversee the distribution process at the company’s 524,000-square-foot warehouse in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
“ShopRite is and has always been what we consider the gold standard in a corporate partner,” said Tim Vogel, director of Food Sourcing at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. “They are our largest single source of food donations.”
In fiscal year 2017, ShopRite’s warehouses donated 3.6 million pounds of food, a 30 percent increase from 2016.
“We are so pleased to be able to work with them year after year in creating a sustainable approach to delivering fresh, healthy food to the people who need it most,” Vogel said.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey has also worked closely with ShopRite’s Partners In Caring program, a community-based, hunger fighting initiative that supports more than 2,000 charities on the front lines of fighting hunger. Since the program began in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated more than $40 million to local food banks.
And, if you happen to stop by the food bank, you just might find ShopRite associates lending a hand, taking time out of their schedules to fight hunger and help the environment.
“Whether its food donations, funding, or simply rolling up their sleeves to volunteer with us monthly,” Vogel said, “[ShopRite associates] are committed to helping us alleviate hunger 365 days a year.”
