Food banks reap nearly $305K from Hannaford programs

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

New York food banks and pantries received a $304,646 gift from Hannaford on Tuesday thanks to a nearly $1 million charitable campaign the Maine-based supermarket chain launched last fall.

The gift comes in the form of product and cash donations solicited during the holiday season and will go to pantries and banks across the five states that Hannaford serves. Hannaford customers either donated money at the register or bought boxes of food through the Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger program, which took place at 181 stores between Oct. 14 and Dec. 31.

In New York, Hannaford presented $216,900 worth of food to pantries across the state as a result of its Helping Hands initiative, which sells boxes of canned chicken breast, cereal, pasta, sauce, rice, soup and vegetables at $10 each. Customers bought a record 80,882 boxes of Helping Hands groceries, a 3 percent increase over the year before.

In addition, through its Buy One, Give One campaign, Hannaford donated 3,500 boxes of pasta, 3,684 jars of sauce and 5,064 cans of vegetables to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, located in Latham. The campaign triggers a donation to a regional or state food bank when a customer buys a particular Hannaford brand product, which Hannaford then matches.

The program also raised $11,860 in cash donations for the Regional Food Bank and the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.

“Once again, Hannaford has run a very successful program with their customers to raise much-needed food and funds for the Regional Food Bank and the hungry people we serve,” said Food Bank Executive Director Mark Quandt. “We thank Hannaford for everything they do to help the Food Bank feed those most in need in our community on an ongoing basis.”