King Kullen Helps Long Island Cares Serve LI's Food Insecure People

HAUPPAUGE, NY — King Kullen employees volunteered this August at Long Island Cares's Harry Chapin Food Bank to help the organization feed the island's food insecure and hungry population, King Kullen announced.

The supermarket franchise's employees helped unpack and sort food donations, with the different food types then boxed into cartons that go to any of the 325 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and senior homes served by Long Island Cares.

King Kullen celebrates its 92nd anniversary this month. Michael J. Cullen founded the franchise in August 1930. The supermarket chain is privately held and family-owned. There are 27 King Kullen supermarkets and five Wild By Nature markets on Long Island.

“When I mentioned to colleagues that our 92nd anniversary was coming up, many said they wanted to get involved,” Tracey Cullen, Esq., King Kullen vice president of corporate strategy and
initiatives, stated. “King Kullen has a long history of supporting Long Island Cares. As a board member there, I’m very aware of the organization’s mission to serve Long Island’s hungry and food-insecure populations. To reflect our 92nd anniversary, we began with a goal of 92 employees volunteering. I’m proud to say we’ve surpassed that number.”

Tracey Cullen is the great-granddaughter of King Kullen founder Michael Cullen.

“King Kullen is passionate about feeding the hungry,” Long Island Cares CEO Paule T. Pachter said. “They have raised tens of thousands of dollars for Long Island Cares over the years, are involved in our food drives, and serve within our organization. We are honored to count King Kullen as a loyal friend and appreciate their commitment this August and always.”

According to King Kullen President and Chief Operating Officer Joseph W. Brown, a past
board president at Long Island Cares, the current employee volunteer effort reflects a passion
that has been with King Kullen from the start.

“Michael Cullen opened King Kullen during the darkest days of the Depression,” Brown said. “Throughout the 1930s, he made sure that King Kullen was donating to area soup kitchens and helping those in need. That tradition has stayed with King Kullen for more than nine decades and will remain with us now and in the future.”

King Kullen is based in Hauppauge. It is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as the United States's first supermarket.

Long Island Cares is also headquartered in Hauppauge and was founded in 1980 by singer-songwriter and activist, Harry Chapin.