TRENTON, NJ, 2016-Jan-26 — /EPR Retail News/ — On Thursday, January 21, Wegmans Princeton delivered a tractor trailer full of nutritious food to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank in Ewing. The donation included 20 pallets of canned soups, vegetables and fruit, peanut butter, canned tuna, cereal and juice, totaling 17,507 pounds.
When the truck arrived at the Food Bank, Wegmans Princeton Store Manager Paul Jordan was on hand along with a team of Wegmans employees to put together bags of food to distribute to hungry people in the area.
“We know that food banks build healthier communities. It’s a privilege to be able to deliver this truckload of food that will serve the needs of our neighbors in Trenton,” said Jordan. “One of our values is to make a difference in every community we serve, and this partnership is a way we’re putting that value into action.”
Mercer Street Friends Food Bank channels over 2.5 million pounds of food into Mercer County pantries, soup kitchens and meal sites annually. The food bank also provides meal packs, including weekend meal packs to more than 500 schoolchildren, delivers fresh produce to seniors and runs a summer feeding program for low-income children.
“The food donation from Wegmans is critical and so appreciated,” says Sabine Mehnert, Director of Mercer Street Friends Food Bank. “As with many industries, food banking is cyclical. We receive many food donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but we don’t receive much in the winter months. The demand for food does not diminish in the winter months, though.”
Wegmans is a longtime supporter of hunger relief, here in Mercer County and throughout the region. In addition to food donations and employee volunteering, Wegmans promotes and collects monetary donations for the food bank through Check Out Hunger each fall.
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Mercer Street Friends
Founded in 1958 by Quakers, Mercer Street Friends responds to the needs of the community to build alliances that will have the most meaningful impact in addressing issues of poverty. We provide a range of integrated services that build community, nurture self-worth and independence, and offer resources for children, families, and communities to overcome poverty and its lasting effects.
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is an 88-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. The family-owned company, recognized as an industry leader and innovator, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016. Wegmans has been named one of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ by FORTUNE magazine for 18 consecutive years, ranking #7 in 2015. The company also ranked #1 for Corporate Reputation, among the 100 ‘most-visible companies’ nationwide in the 2014 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient ® study.
Contact Information:
Cynthia Vandenberg, Mercer Street Friends advancement associate, 609-656-5209
Valerie Fox, Wegmans media relations coordinator, 585-720-5713