ShopRite Breaks ‘Check-Out Hunger’ Record

In a combined effort, ShopRite associates and customers raised a record-breaking $750,000 for the Northeast regional grocery chain’s 2011 annual “Check-Out Hunger” fundraiser.

Every year, ShopRite stores compete to raise funds for the cause, with the donations going to local food banks across Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. This year’s top four winning stores are all owned by Milford Markets, a family business operated by the Garafalo family of Milford, Conn.

The stores, all located in the Nutmeg State, raised a total of $123,964, which will be presented to Nancy Carrington, president and CEO of the East Haven-based Connecticut Food Bank at the ShopRite of Hamden on Thursday, April 26.

“My family and I have been working closely with the Connecticut Food Bank, supporting them in their mission to provide food to our neighbors in need,” said Harry Garafalo, president of Milford Markets and member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Food Bank. “We are honored that our stores have played such an integral part in this year’s Check Out Hunger event.”

Check-Out Hunger, a national fundraising campaign, donates 100 percent of all funds raised to local hunger-fighting charities. From October through December of last year, ShopRite shoppers added a $1, $3, or $5 donation to their bills at checkout, helping to raise funds for food banks in ShopRite’s trading areas across six states.

ShopRite is the registered trademark of Keasbey, N.J.-based retailer-owned cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. With more than 240 ShopRite supermarkets, ShopRite serves more than 5 million customers each week.