Stop & Shop Donates $200,000 to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey

Stop & Shop presented a check for $200,000 to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ) at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, one of the organization’s Kids Cafe program sites. Stop & Shop’s primary charitable initiative is to fight hunger across its region and was honored that its donation will help CFBNJ to address food insecurity across New Jersey. The donation is part of a larger $1.3 million donation from Stop & Shop’s Family Foundation to eight Feeding America food banks across New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut to support hunger relief programs.

The $200,000 donation from the Stop & Shop Family Foundation will support CFBNJ’s Kids Cafe and Summer Nutrition programs.

Through the Kids Cafe program, CFBNJ provides nourishing after-school meals to children so they don’t go to sleep with empty stomachs. The Kids Cafe program provides an average of 6,400 nutritious meals per week at 35 sites across the state. For Northern New Jersey sites, CFBNJ’s Kids Cafe meals are prepared in CFBNJ’s on-site commercial kitchen. The Kids Cafe program also includes a nutrition education component aimed at teaching students about the importance of well-balanced diets and exercise.

CFBNJ’s Summer Nutrition program provides breakfast and lunch to children across the state who receive free school meals during the academic year. Sites include Boys & Girls Clubs, recreation centers, libraries, and more. In the summer of 2024, CFBNJ served more than 100,000 meals at 40 sites to more than 2,000 children daily through the Summer Nutrition program.

“In New Jersey, hunger among our community members continues to increase, and 1 in 8 children are considered food insecure,” said Daniel Wolk, External Communications Manager for Stop & Shop. “As a food retailer that serves this great state, we know it is imperative that we support our food bank partners combat the rising hunger among our neighbors. That is why we are proud to donate $200,000 to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in an effort to help our young community members receive additional healthy food afterschool and during the summer months, so they may have the absolute best opportunity to grow and flourish.”

According to CFBNJ, nearly 1 million people in New Jersey face hunger, and 260,000 of them are children. According to Feeding America, more than 47 million people, including 14 million children, in the United States are food insecure.

CFBNJ relies on the generosity of organizations like Stop & Shop. Stop & Shop’s Meat the Needs, ‘Feed It Forward’ campaign, Annual Turkey Express Program, Stop & Shop Family Foundation donation, School Food Pantry Program, and direct support are a few of the many ways the company supports anti-hunger organizations in the communities it serves.

"For too many kids, free school breakfasts and lunches are their only reliable meals for the day," said Elizabeth McCarthy, President & CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. "Through our Kids Cafe and Summer Nutrition programs, CFBNJ aims to fill the meal gap when school's out and ensure that New Jersey kids don't go to bed on empty stomachs. We're immensely grateful to Stop & Shop for their continuing support of our efforts to nourish children in need across the state."

The donation of $200,000 will enable CFBNJ to better serve community members across New Jersey. To learn more about Stop & Shop’s community support, visit: https://stopandshop.com/pages/feed-it-forward.