Stop & Shop donates more than $200K to Island Harvest

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In Brentwood, Stop & Shop donated more than $200,000 to Island Harvest, presenting a check at Sisters of St. Joseph to help fight food insecurity on Long Island. The contribution is part of a wider $2 million donation to Feeding America food banks in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The donation is thanks in part to Stop & Shop’s May 1-31 “Feed it Forward” campaign, which raised more than $50,000. The Stop & Shop Family Foundation also contributed $150,000.

The donations are designated to support Island Harvest’s Youth Produce Project. This project began in 2013 in partnership with the Stop & Shop Family Foundation to provide low-income children and their families with weekly boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables. This initiative partners with eight Head Start locations across Long Island to ensure these families receive essential nutrition. Beyond food distribution, the project also educates children and their families on the importance of developing and maintaining healthy, well-balanced eating habits, addressing both immediate hunger and long-term wellness.

The donation enables the Youth Produce Project to distribute fresh produce to at least 490 children each week. According to Stop & Shop, the support translates to more than 65,000 pounds of healthy produce, supplementing nearly 55,000 meals.

“As a major grocery retailer on Long Island, we’ve witnessed the heartbreaking consequences of food insecurity and have seen how limited access to fresh, healthy food can severely affect our community, particularly children,” Jennifer Barr, director of External Communications and Community Relations at Stop & Shop, said in a news release about the donation.

“We are proud to donate over $200,000 to support our Long Island neighbors in the battle against hunger and enable more children to gain greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” Barr added.

According to Feeding America’s 2022 Map the Meal Gap report, approximately 221,190 people on Long Island suffer from food insecurity, including 44,780 children — a 63.4% increase from the estimated 27,580 children living with food insecurity in 2021. Nationally, one in seven people, including one in five children, live in food-insecure households — the highest number of individuals and children since 2014. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that food insecurity among children increased by 44% from 2022 to 2023, the largest one-year increase since 2008.

Other programs from Stop & Shop that help fight food insecurity include its Meat the Needs Program, “Feed It Forward” campaign, Annual Turkey Express Program, School Food Pantry Program, and direct support help anti-hunger organizations in the communities it serves.

“We simply could not do the work we do in addressing the ongoing public health crisis of hunger in our communities without the support of our longtime partner, Stop & Shop,” Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest Food Bank, said in the news release. “Their caring and generosity positively impact the lives of the people we serve, and we are extremely grateful on our side in the fight against hunger and food insecurity on Long Island.”