Dozens of organizations receive grants and recognition during the annual charity luncheon for community champions
Galloway, NJ (June 7, 2024) – ShopRite continued its decades-long tradition of supporting women’s golf and giving back to community-based organizations at this year’s ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer – donating nearly $1.5 million to food banks, hospitals, education and youth programs and other community champions at its annual charity luncheon on Friday, June 7.
The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer brings the world’s best professional women golfers to Seaview’s Bay Course in Galloway, NJ to compete this weekend. It’s also a tournament tradition to bring together and recognize community champions who fight hunger, help families and invest in research for the treatment of life-altering diseases.
“Our annual luncheon is a cherished tradition within the LPGA, and each year we look forward to honoring the organizations and advocates who contribute so much,” said Karen Meleta, Chief Communications Officer for Wakefern Food Corp., the logistics and merchandising arm of ShopRite stores. “Our ShopRite and Wakefern teams take great pride in our longstanding partnership with the LPGA tour. Over the last three decades, the ShopRite tournament has raised more than $40 million for charitable causes in the communities where our stores operate.”
ShopRite LPGA Charity Luncheon
Representatives from more than 50 regional organizations accepted grants during Friday’s luncheon. Special guest speakers at the event included Wakefern President Mike Stigers; Elizabeth McCarthy, president and CEO of The Community FoodBank of New Jersey; Wakefern Member Sandy Brown, chairwoman and executive vice president of Brown’s Super Stores, a fourth-generation family business that operates 10 ShopRite supermarkets in Philadelphia and the surrounding area; and Kenneth Zaentz, president and CEO of Alzheimer’s New Jersey.
“ShopRite and Wakefern’s support and generosity are vital to the success and impact of the LPGA, especially when it comes to giving back to the community, ” said Jeremy Friedman, media director for the ShopRite LPGA Classic. “We are incredibly proud to have them as our partners and the longest standing title sponsor on the LPGA Tour.”
The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer kicks off Friday, June 7and continues through Sunday, June 9. The elite 144-player field features several of the world’s top-ranked players, major champions, past champions and players who are making their LPGA Tour debuts.
World Golf Hall-of-Fame member and multiple major champion Karrie Webb returns to the tour competition this year, joining a 144-player international field headlined by defending champion Ashleigh Buhai, former World No. 1 players Jin Young Ko, Stacy Lewis and Atthaya Thitikul and past champions Brooke Henderson (2022), Annie Park (2018), In Kyung Kim (2017), Anna Nordqvist (2015, 2016), Stacy Lewis (2012, 2014), Brittany Lincicome (2011) and Angela Stanford (2003).
Atlantic City’s largest sporting event, the ShopRite LPGA Classic is one of the LPGA Tour’s longest running events. For three decades, golf fans from across the northeast have converged upon the Jersey Shore to watch the top female golfers in the world compete on the famed waterfront course. The tournament not only hosts one of the strongest fields in women’s golf, but it also creates more than $19 million in economic activity in the region each year.
2024 ShopRite LPGA Classic Television Airtimes (all times ET):
Friday, June 7
Noon – 2 p.m. GOLF Channel
2-3 p.m. Peacock
Saturday, June 8
4-5 p.m. Peacock
5-7 p.m. GOLF Channel
Sunday, June 9
2-5 p.m. Peacock
8-10 p.m. GOLF Channel (Tape Delay)
The following organizations received grants at the ShopRite luncheon Friday:
ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION DELAWARE VALLEY
ALZHEIMER’S NEW JERSEY
ARC OF ATLANTIC COUNTY
ATLANTICARE FOUNDATION
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF ATLANTIC CITY
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
CARES INSTITUTE – ROWAN UNIVERSITY
CENTRASTATE HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION
CHILDREN’S SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL
COMMUNITY FOODBANK OF NEW JERSEY
DEBORAH HOSPITAL
EMBRACE KIDS FOUNDATION
EVANS SCHOLARS FOUNDATION
FIRST TEE – JERSEY SHORE
GIRL SCOUTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY
FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY
FOOD BANK OF DELAWARE
FOOD BANK OF SOUTH JERSEY
CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE
FULFILL FOOD BANK
GOODWILL OF DELAWARE & DELAWARE COUNTY
ISLAND HARVEST
JDRF – DELAWARE VALLEY
JFCS OF GREATER MERCER COUNTY
KESSLER FOUNDATION
LONG ISLAND CARES
MARYLAND FOOD BANK
MERCER STREET FRIENDS
NORWESCAP
MATHENY
OPERATION FIRST RESPONSE
PHILABUNDANCE FOOD BANK
PGA REACH
THE CHRISTOPHER & DANA REEVE FOUNDATION
RIVERVIEW MEDICAL CENTER
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE
COOPERMAN BARNABAS MEDICAL CENTER
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY AND NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA
SILOAM WELLNESS
SPECIAL OLYMPICS NJ
ST. JOSEPH’S HEALTH
ST. JOSEPH SOCIAL SERVICE CENTER
TRINITAS FOUNDATION
SUSAN G. KOMEN
180 TURNING LIVES AROUND
VETERANS CENTER OF HOBOKEN
CHILDREN ON THE GREEN
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF MILFORD
SHARING EXCESS
SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN
STOCKTON UNIVERSITY
VAL SKINNER FOUNDATION
About ShopRite
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative based in Keasbey, NJ, and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With nearly 280 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves millions of customers each week. Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves. Since the program began in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated nearly $62 million to food banks that support more than 2,200 worthy charities. As a title sponsor of the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, ShopRite has donated $40 million to local organizations, hospitals and community groups. For more information, please visit www.shoprite.com.