(Mineola, N.Y.)- Three of the New York area’s leading supermarkets are teaming up with the region’s foremost hunger relief organizations to help fight hunger this holiday season. To help make the holidays brighter for those in need, The Food Emporium stores throughout New York City and all Long Island Pathmark and Waldbaum’s stores are joining City Harvest and Island Harvest in this year’s Turkey and Trimmings Collection Campaign.
For most of us, the holiday season is a time of hope and joy, but for countless men, women and children throughout New York City and Long Island who go hungry each day, the holiday season may not be as happy. Economic conditions have taken a toll on hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, many of whom may still have a job, but find themselves with little remaining from their paychecks at the end of the month.
Customers of The Food Emporium, Pathmark and Waldbaum’s can do their part in helping local families in need enjoy a nutritious holiday meal by purchasing a pre-packaged box of the trimmings for a holiday-style dinner, which, in turn, will be donated to City Harvest and Island Harvest to help needy families enjoy the warmth of the holiday season while addressing the critical issue of hunger throughout the region. Packaging and labeling the boxes for the Turkey and Trimmings Collection Campaign was coordinated by the Easter Seals Organization whose volunteers dedicated their time to supporting A&P on the program, which runs from November 1, 2009 through December 24, 2009.
“To help families in need during the holiday season and throughout the year is something that we at A&P strive to do as often as possible, and we are proud to be partnering with Island Harvest and City Harvest on this campaign,” said Jennifer MacLeod, senior vice president of marketing and communications, A&P. “A&P worked closely with the Easter Seals Organization who voluntarily labeled and packaged the boxes of trimmings for this collection, which was a tremendous help and which made this holiday campaign run smoothly.”
“We are grateful to the A&P family of supermarkets for their ongoing support and commitment in helping us provide solutions to the growing problem of hunger in our communities,” Randi Dresner, president and CEO, Island Harvest. “We are also delighted to have City Harvest and The Food Emporium joining us in this year’s Turkey and Trimming Collections Campaign.”
“City Harvest is glad to be part of the Turkey and Trimmings Collection Campaign this year,” said Jilly Stevens, executive director, City Harvest. “We will deliver the food we collect to emergency feeding programs throughout the five boroughs that struggle to feed growing numbers of people, especially over the holidays. By participating, you can help ensure that hungry New Yorkers are able to enjoy a holiday meal.”
New Yorkers are also encouraged to donate turkeys, supermarket turkey coupons, hams, non-perishable food items, supermarket gift cards or cash funds to help City Harvest and Island Harvest in their mission to end hunger and reduce food waste by stopping by one of the numerous food collection events throughout the drive, or by bringing non-perishable food donations to a number of local drop-off locations. For a complete listing of food drives, or drop off sites in New York City, please visit: www.cityharvest.org, and on Long Island go to: www.islandharvest.org.
About City Harvest
Now serving New York City for more than 25 years, City Harvest (www.CityHarvest.org) is the world’s first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry men, women, and children. This year, City Harvest will collect over 25 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to nearly 600 community food programs throughout New York City using a fleet of trucks and bikes as well as volunteers on foot. Each week, City Harvest helps over 260,000 hungry New Yorkers find their next meal.
City Harvest also addresses hunger’s underlying causes by educating individuals, families, and communities in the prevention of diet-related diseases, channeling a greater amount of local farm food into high-need areas, and enhancing the ability of our agency partners to feed hungry men, women, and children, and supporting affordable access to nutritious food in low-income communities.
About Island Harvest
Fighting hunger and touching lives, Island Harvest serves as the bridge between those who have surplus food and those who need it, supplying hundreds of community-based nonprofit organizations on Long Island with critical food support to help stem the advancing tide of hunger in our communities. Island Harvest has delivered 57 million pounds of food, supplementing more than 44 million meals, since its inception in 1992. In support of its mission to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island, the organization is actively involved in educational and hunger awareness programs to inform the public about the insidious but often unrecognized problem of hunger here, in one of the wealthiest regions of the country, and how individuals, businesses, schools and commercial food establishments can make a difference. Island Harvest is a member of Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest). For more information about Island Harvest, visit www.islandharvest.org or call 516-294-8528.
About A&P
Founded in 1859, A&P is one of the nation’s first supermarket chains. The Company operates 435 stores in 8 states and the District of Columbia under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark, Best Cellars, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh and Food Basics. For more information, please visit http://www.aptea.com.
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