ShopRite Employees Earn Spots on Cheerios Boxes
As part of an annual tradition of recognizing their hunger-fighting efforts, photos of 100 ShopRite associates are appearing on limited-edition Cheerios boxes during March and April. This year, their fundraising efforts raised $1 million for regional food banks.
Associates across the retailer’s operating region compete each fall in the annual ShopRite Partners In Caring Cheerios Contest, a friendly competition sponsored by ShopRite and global food company General Mills. With this year’s contest theme, “Ending Hunger Together,” serving as backdrop, ShopRite associates came together during Hunger Action Month in September to collect donations at checkout and in-store in the fight against hunger. The campaign also encourages customers to round their grocery purchases up to the nearest dollar.
“This past year, we saw food banks working overtime as more families found themselves facing food insecurity during the pandemic," said Rob Zuehlke, ShopRite’s manager of corporate social responsibility. “We’re proud to be able to support these regional food banks in the Feeding America network and extend a sincere thank-you to our hardworking associates and generous customers who sustain this annual contest and make a difference in our communities.”
To determine which associates get their photos on the boxes, ShopRite and Minneapolis-based General Mills recognized the 45 top fundraising ShopRite stores. These winning stores then selected two associates to be featured on the customized Cheerios box, sold exclusively at ShopRite. Each winning store also receives prize money ($3,000 for the top five stores, and $500 for the remaining winning stores) that's donated to local food pantries chosen by the respective store teams. A total of 100 associates are featured this year on the limited-edition cereal boxes, as well as online at ShopRite’s EssentialThanks.com website.
The winning ShopRite stores are:
Connecticut:
ShopRite of Bristol, ShopRite of Waterbury
Maryland:
ShopRite of Timonium
New Jersey:
ShopRite of Burlington, ShopRite of Byram in Stanhope, ShopRite of Chews Landing in Laurel Springs, ShopRite of English Creek in Egg Harbor, ShopRite of Flanders, ShopRite of Flemington, ShopRite of Galloway, ShopRite of Greenwich in Phillipsburg, ShopRite of Hainesport, ShopRite of Landis in Vineland, ShopRite of Mansfield in Hackettstown, ShopRite of Marmora, ShopRite of Medford, ShopRite of Metro Plaza in Jersey City, ShopRite of Montague, ShopRite of Mount Laurel, ShopRite of New Milford, ShopRite of Newton, ShopRite of Ramsey, ShopRite of Rio Grande, ShopRite of Somers Point, ShopRite of Somerset, ShopRite of Sparta, ShopRite of Spotswood, ShopRite of Springfield, ShopRite of Succasunna, ShopRite of Wallington, ShopRite of Washington, ShopRite of West Deptford, ShopRite of Williamstown
New York:
ShopRite of Carmel, ShopRite of Croton, ShopRite of Cortlandt, ShopRite of Fishkill, ShopRite of Forest & Richmond in Staten Island, ShopRite of Hylan Plaza in Staten Island, ShopRite of Monticello, ShopRite of New Rochelle, ShopRite of Vails Gate, ShopRite of Veterans Road in Staten Island, ShopRite of Warwick
Pennsylvania:
ShopRite of Brodheadsville, ShopRite of Bethlehem, ShopRite of Yardley
Cheerios isn’t the only major manufacturing brand that ShopRite is partnering with to do good in its community. The retailer also recently partnered with Colgate to not only promote sustainability, but also to help provide innovative school supplies to local communities. Colgate, ShopRite and Trenton, New Jersey-based international recycling leader TerraCycle have united to sponsor the Colgate and ShopRite School Challenge that allows participating schools to compete for prize packages worth a combined total of more than $92,000, consisting of new desks, chairs, backpacks, pencil cases and pens — all made from recycled oral care waste and packaging.
ShopRite Partners In Caring is a year-round community-based hunger-fighting initiative that works with more than 50 food industry manufacturers to provide $3 million annually to qualified charitable agencies in the states where ShopRite stores operate. Since its inception in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated $51 million to more than 2,200 charities. ShopRite Partners In Caring supports emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, child care centers, battered women's shelters, senior citizen programs, drug rehab centers, programs for the mentally and physically disabled, after-school programs, and other organizations that aid those in need.
ShopRite is a registered trademark of Keasbey, New Jersey-based retailer-owned cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. With nearly 280 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves millions of customers each week. Wakefern is No. 25 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's 2020 listing of North America’s top retailers of food and consumables.
