In the USA, 30–40 percent of the food supply is wasted, equaling more than 20 pounds of food per person per month, according to the United Nations Environment Program, Regional Office of North America. To help combat this waste, the ShopRite of Medford has committed to donating some of its day-old foods to the Christian Caring Center in Brown Mills.
“ShopRite has been donating to us for three years now and it helps us out tremendously. We help about 350 households per month, and their donations help us to ensure our clients get the nutrition they need,” Madelyn Mears-Sheldon, executive director of the Christian Caring Center said. “Thirty-five to forty percent of our clients are disabled and the rest have children, so they really need these products.”
The ShopRite of Medford is part of the Somerset Stores that are owned by Renee and David Zallie. Years ago, ShopRite home associate Cindy Connolly was volunteering with the Christian Caring Center and came to the owners with the idea of donating the edible products that were no longer sellable.
Upon contacting the Christian Caring Center regarding the possibility of picking up these food items from ShopRite, the two established a partnership and the Center now collects these items on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. Included in the products being donated to the community thrift and consignment store are fruits, veggies, breads and cakes and, when available, meats and dairy.
“I just love how our store owners are so community-minded and will do whatever they are able to do to support the many different things going on in the community and to meet the needs where possible,” said Beth Ann Peterson, a registered dietitian with Medford’s ShopRite. “Our donations are actually sent to quite a few organizations that have a food bank-type need.”
The ShopRite of Medford’s “sister store,” the ShopRite of Lawnside, also contributes food pantry donations, and together they work with about 10 good pantries throughout Burlington County. Demonstrating the stores’ commitment to fighting hunger, their participation in Partners for Caring, a 501 c 3 that raises money to help feed the hungry through local food banks, has led to the Medford store raising more than $25,000 and the Lawnside store raising more than $16,000 for the organization in 2015.
On the days when Christian Caring Center is not picking up donations, these other organizations are assigned times they are able to collect as well. The food pantry volunteers arrive in the morning and go to the stores’ receiving areas that are loaded with the unsellable produce, bakery items and some canned goods. The volunteers then load up their trucks and take the items to the designated food pantries to be given to people in need.
“Fighting hunger is a very important cause to us. We are so happy to know that we can help those less fortunate with food when they
would otherwise be hungry,” Kim Bezanis, marketing and community relations managr at the ShopRite of Medford, said. “The food is going to good use as opposed to being just thrown out. We estimate that in 2015, we donated over $500,000 worth of food to the food pantries between our two stores.”
Aside from their weekly donations, in the past year, the ShopRites of Medford and Lawnside were also two of the 40 winning stores of the annual ShopRite Partners in Caring Cheerios Contest with a “Lending a Hand for Hunger” theme. To win, associates were required to
collect donations at checkout and hold various events in the store to support regional food banks in their communities.
“Their donations are good for the environment and really good for the community because they help my clients get nutrition while benefiting our food budget by really stretching it,” Mears-Sheldon said.
Overall, the local ShopRite stores are doing their part to help better the community through their fight against hunger. For more information or to learn how you can help, visit www.shopritepartnersincaring.org.
