Shaw's to Launch School Supply Collection Drive
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- To help provide needy children under the age of 12 with backpacks and supplies as they head back to school, Shaw's Supermarkets here is collaborating with Quincy, Mass.-based nonprofit charity Cradles to Crayons and radio stations throughout New England for a collection drive at all 215 Shaw's and Star Market stores in the region. Shaw's and Cradles to Crayon are partnering with CBS Radio in the Boston area.
The "Ready for School" campaign kicks off at the Waltham, Mass. Shaw's on Aug. 18 at noon, with appearances from local radio personalities and state Rep. Peter Koutoujian. The initiative will run through Friday, Aug. 18.
As part of the campaign, Shaw's customers will be encouraged to buy school supplies and place them in a collection bin near the store exit. The collected items will then be delivered to Cradles to Crayons' warehouse, where a "packathon" will be held. Volunteers, among them Shaw's employees and their families, will put the items in backpacks, which will be given to children for the start of the 2006-2007 school year. The goal of the drive is to provide 20,000 backpacks to underprivileged children in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
"Children should not have to go without basic school supplies," said Shaw's president Carl Jablonski in a statement. "This partnership helps to ensure that tens of thousands of kids are ready for school."
Shaw's, Osco, and Star Market, consisting of more than 210 store locations employing about 30,000 associates in the six New England states, are a division of Minneapolis-based Supervalu.
The "Ready for School" campaign kicks off at the Waltham, Mass. Shaw's on Aug. 18 at noon, with appearances from local radio personalities and state Rep. Peter Koutoujian. The initiative will run through Friday, Aug. 18.
As part of the campaign, Shaw's customers will be encouraged to buy school supplies and place them in a collection bin near the store exit. The collected items will then be delivered to Cradles to Crayons' warehouse, where a "packathon" will be held. Volunteers, among them Shaw's employees and their families, will put the items in backpacks, which will be given to children for the start of the 2006-2007 school year. The goal of the drive is to provide 20,000 backpacks to underprivileged children in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
"Children should not have to go without basic school supplies," said Shaw's president Carl Jablonski in a statement. "This partnership helps to ensure that tens of thousands of kids are ready for school."
Shaw's, Osco, and Star Market, consisting of more than 210 store locations employing about 30,000 associates in the six New England states, are a division of Minneapolis-based Supervalu.