New Windsor, NY (June 6, 2023) – ShopRite presented Hudson Valley Honor Flight with a donation of $182,500 in honor of military veterans at a recent pre-flight ceremony. The money was raised during ShopRite’s 2022 Veterans Fundraising Campaign. Participating ShopRite stores throughout New York and New Jersey collected donations at checkout, and held in-store and community events, including raffles, barbecues and bingo to help raise money for the flight.
Hudson Valley Honor Flight honors local military veterans, including those with service records dating back to World War II, by flying them to Washington D.C. on an all-expense paid trip to visit their war memorials. The event and check presentation took place at Westchester County Airport on Saturday, May 20, before Mission #30 departed with 68 honored veterans.
“We are proud to be able to support local veteran organizations and would like to extend a sincere thank you to our generous guests and associates who help us honor local veterans with this great tribute and flight,” said Steve Savas, president, ShopRite Supermarkets (SRS), Inc., which operates ShopRite stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Hudson Valley and Capital Region in New York. “This initiative is close to our hearts and it’s our way of recognizing the sacrifices our veterans have made.”
Charlie Sladek, District Director at SRS, and Mike Schoendorf, Vice President of Operations at SRS, presented Executive Director Jennifer DeFrancesco and Chairman Frank Kimler of Hudson Valley Honor Flight with the donation. ShopRite has been a proud supporter of Hudson Valley Honor Flight and their mission to give back to our veterans for over a decade.
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 $38 million to local organizations, hospitals and community groups. For more information, please visit www.shoprite.com.
About Hudson Valley Honor Flight
Hudson Valley Honor Flight (HVHF) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization which “Honors American Veterans” for all their sacrifices. HVHF transports these heroes to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials at no cost to them. It is the local hub of the National Honor Flight Network (which consists of more than 100 independent non-profit “hubs” across America). HVHF flies multiple times a year out of Stewart International Airport and Westchester County Airport. It serves veterans from the following counties: Orange (N.Y.), Ulster (N.Y.), Dutchess (N.Y.), Westchester (N.Y.), Rockland (N.Y.), Sullivan (N.Y.), Putnam (N.Y.), Pike (Pa.), Bergen (N.J.), and Fairfield (Conn.). Veterans from other surrounding counties are considered as well. Top priority is given to those veterans of the Greatest Generation, that of WWII, followed by veterans of the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam and all terminally ill veterans. Applications are kept on file. For more information, please visit hvhonorflight.com.