MONTGOMERY – ShopRite and the supermarket cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. recently made a generous gift of $95,000 to the Regional Food Bank’s Shop the Dock program to help provide additional food pantry groceries for its community agency partners.

With Wakefern and ShopRite underwriting the cost of shelf stable food pantry items such as tuna, fruit, vegetables and soup, the Regional Food Bank is able to enhance its Shop the Dock experience, which is when partner agencies come to the Orange County Distribution Center in Montgomery to select fresh produce, dairy, bread, and other perishables that are available daily. The distribution center serves food pantries, onsite feeding programs, and other partner agencies throughout the six Hudson Valley counties. 

Wakefern, the retailer-owned supermarket cooperative with members who own and operate ShopRite stores and other supermarkets, donated $1.25 million last month to food banks across several states, with $95,000 going to the Regional Food Bank serving Hudson Valley and northeastern New York. The donation was made through Wakefern and ShopRite’s signature hunger-fighting initiative, ShopRite Partners In Caring.

“This donation reflects ShopRite’s ongoing commitment to supporting the Regional Food Bank and its vital work in fighting hunger, helping neighbors in need and strengthening the communities our stores serve,” said Steve Savas, president of ShopRite Supermarkets Inc., which operates ShopRite stores in the Hudson Valley.

The Regional Food Bank expects to receive a total of more than 75,000 pounds of shelf-stable food from Wakefern and ShopRite that community agencies can pick up at the food bank, as well as regular products available on the dock when they stop throughout the day.

“Through the generous support of Wakefern and ShopRite we are able to expand our Shop the Dock and offer our agency partners in the Hudson Valley an opportunity to stock their local food pantries with even more fresh produce and shelf stable products at no cost,” said Regional Food Bank CEO Tom Nardacci. “We are committed to doing everything we can to fight hunger and help those most at risk.” 

The donation builds on Wakefern and ShopRite’s decades-long commitment to working with food banks to address food insecurity. 

More than 355,000 people, 12.2% of the population in the Regional Food Bank’s 23-county service area, are food insecure, meaning that they don’t always know where they will find their next meal. A staggering 15.4% of children in the region experience food insecurity. The data shows that food insecurity continues to grow with an additional 23,210 individuals in the Regional Food Bank’s service area.