Stop & Shop partners with Hunter Hayes to raise awareness for child hunger

Stop & Shop partners with Hunter Hayes to raise awareness for child hunger

May 9th shows scheduled in Boston & New Haven















PURCHASE, N.Y. and QUINCY, Mass., May 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing mission to fight hunger in the local communities it serves, the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is teaming up with multiple GRAMMY nominee Hunter Hayes and ConAgra for the "Hunter Hayes' 24 Hour Road Race to End Child Hunger," which kicks off on May 9 in Times Square. Hayes is raising awareness to help end child hunger while attempting to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® record for Most Concerts Played in multiple cities in 24 hours.

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Stop & Shop is a participating sponsor and will have a presence at the Boston event on Friday, May 9 at 9:15 a.m. at the Paradise Rock Club and the New Haven event at 6:45 p.m. at Toad's Place. To help local hunger relief efforts, customers are encouraged to stop by the Hamden Stop & Shop location on Friday, May 2 between 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., where Country 92.5 will be airing live, to donate a non-perishable food item to the Connecticut Food Bank and be entered into a drawing for a pair of tickets to the Hunter Hayes 24 Hour Road Race to End Child Hunger show at Toad's Place on May 9. Stop & Shop's food drive to benefit the Connecticut Food Bank will continue until May 9 at the Hamden, East Haven, West Haven and North Haven store locations.

"Stop & Shop is committed to being a better neighbor in our local communities, especially around hunger relief and child-related efforts," said Joe Kelley, president, Stop & Shop New England division. "No child should go hungry, but approximately 16 million children in the United States currently live in households without consistent access to adequate food."

"As a food retailer, we continue to play an important role in the fight against hunger and regularly work hand in hand with our local food banks through donations and also associate volunteering," said Don Sussman, president, Stop & Shop New York Metro division. "In recent years, we have been able to expand on that commitment through the donation of high protein meat, the funding of mobile food pantries and a greater emphasis on ensuring kids most in need have access to healthy food."

To alleviate child hunger by reaching more food insecure children with healthy meals, Stop & Shop and its parent company Ahold USA's Our Family Foundation, is in the second of a three year initiative to distribute $6 million in Fighting Child Hunger grants to 16 regional food banks throughout its market area. These grants target communities with significant need in order to provide millions of healthy meals to children through child care, after school, mobile pantries, and summer programs, as well as other innovative approaches.

At Greater Boston Food Bank, they are utilizing their Stop & Shop Fighting Child Hunger grant to transition their BackPack program to school-based food pantries and expand mobile distributions. The grant also contributes to summer feeding programs that ensure kids receive meals during the summer when they cannot take advantage of the meals they receive during the school year.

"We are tremendously grateful for this grant from Our Family Foundation and Stop & Shop/New England Division for the second year. One in nine residents of eastern Massachusetts is at risk of hunger, and as many as one in four are children. These families and children in our community will benefit from this grant immediately, as it will allow The Greater Boston Food Bank to distribute enough nutritious food for 900,000 meals at our direct distribution sites. Our Family Foundation's generosity is truly supporting GBFB's mission to end hunger here in eastern Massachusetts," said Catherine D'Amato, President and CEO, The Greater Boston Food Bank.

With its Fighting Child Hunger grant, Connecticut Food Bank was able to start and support the GROW Up with Good Nutrition Initiative which includes a walk-in mobile food pantry truck with fresh produce and healthy groceries targeting low-income families with young children. The initiative was launched in fall 2013 when it began to make product deliveries to families participating in the Head Start program. In addition, during last year's government shutdown when these Head Start programs had to close their doors, leaving children without meals they would have otherwise received during daycare, the Connecticut Food Bank used the grant funds to provide emergency food distribution to 1,200 children enrolled at three closed Head Start locations.

"By providing young families with fresh, nutritious foods, we are improving the nutrition content of each participating household's meals," said Nancy L. Carrington, Connecticut Food Bank President and CEO. "Through the generosity of Stop & Shop, we are able to expand the nutritional value of meals they prepare at home while educating the youngsters about good nutrition that will last a lifetime."

For more information about the "Hunter Hayes' 24 Hour Road Race to End Child Hunger" and a complete concert schedule, visit www.hunterhayes.com.

About Stop & Shop
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC employs approximately 59,000 associates and operates 394 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. The company helps support local communities fight hunger, combat childhood cancer and promote general health and wellness - with emphasis on children's educational and support programs. In its commitment to be a sustainable company, Stop & Shop is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and EPA's Smart Way program; and has been recognized by the EPA for the superior energy management of its stores. Stop & Shop is an Ahold company. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com or www.facebook.com/stopandshop.



About Hunter Hayes
Four-time GRAMMY nominated artist, Hunter Hayes, is a multi-talented performer, musician, producer, and writer. His critically acclaimed Atlantic Records self-titled album garnered three consecutive No. 1 singles, selling over eight million singles to date while the album itself has been certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. The highly anticipated follow-up, Storyline, will be released May 6 via Atlantic Records and features his current hit single "Invisible." His most recent Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance for his No. 1 single "I Want Crazy" marks his fourth Grammy nomination off his debut release. Hunter is currently featured as one of Forbes Magazine's "30 Under 30" and has played over 500 dates since 2011. The Louisiana native has headlined sold out venues across the US and Canada and recently wrapped the sold out CMT On Tour: Hunter Hayes' Let's Be Crazy tour this past fall. For more information visit www.hunterhayes.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hunterhayes and follow Hunter on Twitter http://twitter.com/hunterhayes.

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SOURCE Stop & Shop Supermarket Company

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110908/NY65221LOGO
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Stop & Shop Supermarket Company

CONTACT: Arlene Putterman, Stop & Shop NY Metro Division, (914) 251-2834, arlene.putterman@stopandshop.com, or Jenny Krupski, Stop & Shop New England Division,(617) 276-7756, jkrupski@webershandwick.com

Web Site: http://www.stopandshop.com/


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