U.S. Marines Unload 2400 Turkeys Donated by Stop & Shop

Lt. Colonel James Sweeney, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion 25th Regiment of the U.S. Marines based in Garden City, hands a Thanksgiving Turkey to Randi Shubin Dresner, President and CEO of Island Harvest, as the Marines helped offload 2400 Thanksgiving Turkeys that Stop & Shop donated to Island Harvest and Long Island Cares, Inc.- The Harry Chapin Food Bank.

U.S. Marines unloaded 2400 Thanksgiving Turkeys that Stop & Shop donated to the Island Harvest Food Bank and Long Island Cares, Inc.- The Harry Chapin Food Bank to battle hunger on Long Island.

Stop & Shop’s Turkey Express program will deliver nearly 21,000 turkeys to hunger relief organizations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island this holiday season.

· More than 316,000 Long Islanders face the risk of hunger each day.

· Nearly one-third of Long Islanders who receive supplemental food assistance are under 18 years old. Children faced with chronic hunger are more likely to experience behavioral issues, have reduced ability to learn social skills and suffer from impaired cognitive learning skills.

· Approximately 70,000 individuals seek food assistance in Nassau and Suffolk counties each week through soup kitchens, food pantries and other feeding programs.

· Most Long Islanders accessing emergency feeding programs are forced to choose between paying for housing, utilities, transportation, medical care and putting food on the table.

· Nearly 36% of people receiving food assistance report an income higher than 130% of poverty – the income eligibility threshold for SNAP assistance.

Stop & Shop donates over $12 million in product and financial support to individual food banks. In addition to the Turkey Express program, Stop & Shop continues to fight hunger through the Food for Friends campaign, which will raise more than $1 million this year for more than 300 local hunger relief organizations through the states that it operates in.