Shaw’s, ShopRite Unveil Local Food Drives

Shaw’s Supermarkets has launched the “Spirit of Giving” Food Drive, which enables shoppers to buy pre-assembled food bags at the Supervalu division’s 169 locations, for donation to local hunger relief partners and food banks.

Through Dec.18, Shaw’s customers can purchase pre-assembled bags that contain such holiday food items as from green beans and tomato sauce for $5, $10 or $15. Once bought, the bags will be placed in a designated drop bin and Shaw’s stores will deliver them to community food banks and pantries in the New England chain’s market area of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.

“The need for hunger relief is prevalent all year, but it takes on an added level of importance during the holiday season,” noted Mike Stigers, president of West Bridgewater, Mass.-based Shaw’s. “At Shaw’s, we are acutely aware of the hunger problems within our community.”

As an added incentive for shoppers to participate in the Spirit of Giving program, they can earn game tickets for Shaw’s Wish Big, Win Big Holiday Giveaway, with a chance to win more than $15 million in prizes and money savings offers. Shaw’s has also donated around 10,000 turkeys to food partners across its five-state footprint.

Meanwhile, the Drust family-owned ShopRite of Wallingford, Conn., is hosting the 2nd Annual Radio WMRQ Friends of Maze food drive on Sunday, Nov. 20, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 21, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Radio 104.1, Connecticut Food Bank staff and ShopRite volunteers are collecting customer donations of frozen turkeys, nonperishable foods and cash donations to aid the food bank.

Covering six Connecticut counties, the food bank distributes food to 600 emergency programs, feeding more than 300,000 people annually. Last year, it gave out 15 million pounds of food, or 31 tons of food for every business day.

The ShopRite of Wallingford is owned and operated by Drust Markets, LLC, a family business operated by Don Drust and his wife, Diane. ShopRite is the registered trademark of Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp., the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With more than 230 ShopRite supermarkets located in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than 5 million customers each week.