To stock local food pantries with fresh milk during Hunger Action Month in September, Grand Union stores in New York state and Vermont and American Dairy Association North East are teaming up to raise money through Fill a Glass With Hope. A joint effort between the association, dairy farmers, agriculture partners and business leaders, enables the program to provide fresh milk to needy families through a network of local food banks. Milk is one of the most requested items by families visiting food banks and is often one of the least donated.
The program will run on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from Sept. 4 through Sept. 24 at Grand Union locations in Owego, Peru, Cortland, Sherrill and Cooperstown, N.Y.; Rutland, Vt.; and Warrensburg, Watertown, Saranac Lake, Rome and Norwich, N.Y.
Based in North Syracuse, N.Y., and Philadelphia, American Dairy Association North East is the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council and the regional consolidation of three promotion organizations: the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council Inc., the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, and the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program.
First founded in 1916 and recently resurrected by C&S Wholesale Grocers, Grand Union was one of the first supermarkets in the United States. Today, there are 11 Grand Union stores in New York and Vermont.
Founded in 1918 as a supplier to independent grocery stores, Keene, N.H.-based C&S Wholesale Grocers now services customers of all sizes, supplying more than 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions with 100,000-plus products, in addition to operating corporate stores. The company is No. 16 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top retailers of food and consumables in North America.