At a time when the cost of living, and eating, is stretching the budgets of many residents, Hannaford is reaching out to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
The Maine-based supermarket chain has made donations to the food bank before, said Executive Director Mark Quandt. But this year, he said, the donation, which Hannaford’s Community Specialist Tara Morgan said totaled nearly $72,000, was made in several different forms.
According to Morgan, There are a number of components to this donation.
One of those components was a $25,000 donation during the holiday season, as part of Hannaford’s 125th anniversary, which it celebrated this year. In celebrating the anniversary, the chain donated $25,000 to five food banks in the northeast.
Then on Wednesday, Feb. 11, the supermarket donated more.
Twenty-thousand dollars worth of Hannaford gift cards were donated, along with 1,600 Fund a Feast boxes, which contained basic food essentials, with a total value of $16,000, Morgan said. The boxes were sold during the holiday season for $10 per box, and allowed the customer to either keep the box for themselves, or donate the box to a local pantry. The donation program ran for 12 weeks leading up to the new year.
Along with the donation also came 4,000 boxes of Hannaford brand cereal and 3,600 cans of soup, which Morgan said were valued at $11,000.
While Quandt said he knew about some of the items Hannaford was donating, namely, the cash donation and gift cards, the food bank did not know about the food boxes, or the cereal and soup, which Quandt said will come to great use for the nearly 400 pantries the food bank serves.
`This donation has a tremendous impact because it also covers all aspects,` said Quandt. `The kickoff gift helped support our operation, the cereal and soup — that’s just basic stuff we need. Especially the cereal whenever we have it, it goes pretty quick.`
Quandt said the gift cards will help families with special food needs mostly.
`There’s always families with specific needs that the food pantry cannot address,` said Quandt. `Maybe they need diapers instead of food, or they have dietary restrictions that the pantry cannot address.`
For those families, gift cards in the amount of $5 will be distributed through the pantry. Quandt also said that just because the gift cards are made out in the amount of $5 each does not mean a family receiving them would only receive a $5 gift card, and that if a pantry decides a family needs more, they can give multiple gift cards.
Morgan said Hannaford was happy to be able to support the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York because the chain has worked with them before and has seen the impact the food bank has on the community.
`They’re just a great partner, and we collaborate with them on a number of issues,` said Morgan. `It just makes sense to work with them and we know the food and resources will filter down into the smaller communities.`
While the food bank is always looking for donations, Quandt said the Hannaford donation should have an impact on many families throughout the 23 counties it services in northeastern New York, and that the goal is always to help as many families as possible.
If you would like to make a donation to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, call 786-3691.
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