Stater Bros.’ Jack Brown Receives Naval Gratitude

Stater Bros. Executive Chairman Jack H. Brown has received a letter from Captain M.S. Ruth of the U.S. Navy, the commanding officer of the famed USS Boxer (LHD-4), thanking Stater Bros. for 277 care packages delivered to the amphibious assault ship’s crew. The USS Boxer, which serves as the flagship for the anti-piracy Combined Task Force 151 that pursues pirates off the coast of Somalia, is perhaps best known for assisting in the 2009 rescue of the captain and crew aboard the Maersk Alabama from a pirate siege, an event that inspired the 2013 film “Captain Phillips.”

The 277 packages delivered to the ship were among 1,000 prepared in celebration of Armed Forces Day, which took place May 21. More than 200 Stater Bros. employees, friends and suppliers, as well as representatives from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Operation Community Cares, a local organization that supports the troops, gathered to prepare the packages for local military members serving overseas. The letter to Brown, who is a Navy veteran himself, mentioned that “receiving care packages brightens a sailor’s day.”

San Bernardino, Calif.-based Stater Bros. operates 168 supermarkets in Southern California and employs approximately 18,000 people.