Stop & Shop Donates $125,000 to Food Bank For New York City to Support Hunger Relief Programs Across NYC

Stop & Shop presented a $125,000 donation to Food Bank For New York City (FBNYC) during a Mobile Pantry distribution event in the Bronx. The donation is part of a broader $1.3 million commitment by Stop & Shop to support eight Feeding America food banks across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in the fight against food insecurity. Fighting hunger remains a central focus of Stop & Shop’s charitable mission, and the company is honored to back FBNYC’s efforts to build long-term food security. Following the presentation, Stop & Shop associates volunteered by distributing nutritious food to community members.

Food insecurity has continued to rise across New York City, including in the Bronx, and proposed federal cuts to SNAP funding could affect more than 1.8 million New Yorkers, including 560,000 children. According to the most recent data from the Food Bank for NYC, as of September 1st, 2024:

• 1.3 million New York City residents face food insecurity.
• 20.2 percent, or nearly 291,000 (290,990) Bronx residents are food insecure.
• As of July 2024, the Bronx unemployment rate is 7.8 percent. This is 1.7 percentage points higher when compared to the citywide rate of 6.1 percent. The Bronx unemployment rate is nearly twice the national unemployment rate (4.3 percent).
• An estimated 27.7 percent, or more than 375,000 (374,766) Bronx residents are living below the federal poverty level. Bronx’ poverty rate is 51 percent above New York City’s poverty rate of 18.3 percent.
• More than 1 in 4 (28 percent), or nearly half a million (495,328) of total NYC SNAP participants live in the Bronx.
• The Bronx’ median household income is $45,517, which is nearly 39 percent below New York City’s median household income of $74,694.
• Last year alone, Food Bank For New York City provided nearly 22.5 million free meals to member charities and schools in the Bronx, 25 percent of Food Bank’s citywide total food distribution.
• The meal gap for the Bronx is more than 46 million (46,226,900); that is, Bronx residents who experience food insecurity fall short of an adequate diet by more than 46 million meals in a single year. Bronx’ meal gap is 23 percent of the total New York City meal gap (243,307,800).

The donation of $125,000 comes from the Stop & Shop Family Foundation to support Food Bank For New York City’s Mobile Pantry and Youth Engagement Community Food Pantry programs. With this support, FBNYC will be able to provide over 100,000 pounds of nutritious food and fresh produce through these two programs to approximately 7,000 residents, including 4,200 children.

Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry program puts its mission on wheels, deploying Food Bank trucks across New York City to 13 sites, targeting gaps in their network where food assistance programs have closed, do not exist, or simply need more capacity to serve the long lines in their neighborhoods. Each monthly outdoor Mobile Pantry distribution can provide up to 300 families with a week’s worth of healthy, nutritious food through a client choice model, a structure that aims to reflect a shopping experience. Since its inception, the Mobile Pantry program has distributed over 2.1 million pounds of food to more than 290,000 New Yorkers. In fiscal year 2024, Mobile Pantry reached nearly 130,000 individuals with over 600,000 pounds of nutritious food.

Food Bank For New York City’s Youth Engagement Community Food Pantry program embeds full-scale pantries in community-based organizations in neighborhoods including Brooklyn, and the Bronx, extending the impact of food distribution efforts to the children and families these organizations serve to create a direct channel to food resources for community members in neighborhoods facing high levels of food insecurity. FBNYC operates four year-round Youth Engagement Community Food Pantry sites that distribute standard meal kits to families, which contain up to nine days of food for every member of a household, including grains, vegetables, fruits, proteins, and dairy.

“Food insecurity continues to rise across our communities, and food banks like Food Bank For New York City are facing unprecedented demand while receiving fewer government resources,” said Jim McGinn, Regional Vice President of Operations at Stop & Shop. “As a grocery retailer deeply rooted in this great city, we believe it’s our responsibility to step up and support our partners on the front lines of hunger relief. That’s why we’re proud to support FBNYC and help ensure that more New Yorkers, especially children, have access to healthy food after school and throughout the summer, giving them the best opportunity to grow, learn, and succeed.”

Stop & Shop has been a generous partner of Food Bank For New York City for several years helping the organization continue to fight food insecurity. Stop & Shop’s ‘Feed It Forward’ campaign, Meat The Needs program, 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.

"We are deeply grateful to our longtime partners at Stop & Shop for their continued commitment to the fight against food insecurity,” remarked Leslie Gordon, President and CEO of Food Bank For New York City. “This generous $125,000 donation will make a meaningful difference in the lives of thousands of New Yorkers, especially children and families, who rely on us for access to fresh, nutritious food. Together, we are strengthening communities across the five boroughs and ensuring that our neighbors have the resources they need to thrive.”

The donation of $125,000 will enable FBNYC to better serve the community members across all five boroughs. To learn more about Stop & Shop’s community support; visit: https://stopandshop.com/pages/feed-it-forward.