ShopRite Store Aiding Gun Collection Effort

To mark the new ShopRite of Howard Park, owned by the Klein family, a July 26 "Goods for Guns" collection event will be held in Baltimore. The event, the second of its kind in the city, has also received the backing of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the City Council, the Baltimore Police Department, and UpLift Solutions, a nonprofit organization founded by fellow ShopRite operator Jeffrey Brown.

The collection event will take place at New All Saints Catholic Church in Baltimore. Goods for Guns enables gun owners to exchange their weapons for a $100 ShopRite gift card, no questions asked.

"Violence in our communities makes any positive strides more challenging and it affects us all, particularly during difficult economic times," noted Marshall Klein, COO of Forest Hill, Md.-based Klein's Family Markets, which operates eight ShopRite stores. "The Goods for Guns program creates a tremendous opportunity to help the communities that we are committed to."

Collection points are selected based on where assistance is most needed.

ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a Keasbey, N.J.-based retailer-owned cooperative. With more than 250 ShopRite supermarkets throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, the banner serves more than 6 million customers each week.