NEW YORK, NY — Coming together to help local families, replenish non-perishable supplies and recruit new volunteers to sustain important anti-hunger efforts, NBC 4 New York / WNBC and Telemundo 47 / WNJU will join with Stop & Shop and local food banks to host Feeding Our Families or Alimentando a Nuestras Familias in Spanish, a massive food and volunteer drive on Saturday, April 8. Donations can be made at 199 Stop & Shop locations. Volunteers from partnering food banks will collect and pack all donated items to distribute to local families.
WHO/ WHAT: NBC4 New York, Telemundo 47, Stop & Shop Supermarkets and seven Tri-State food bank and food rescue organizations join to host a region-wide food and volunteer drive.
WHEN: Saturday, April 8 between 10 AM and 6 PM.
WHERE: Tri-State residents can visit any of the region’s 199 Stop & Shop locations and place donation items inside clearly labeled collections bins. Please visit NBCNewYork.com/fooddrive or Telemundo47.com/feature/alimentando-a-nuestras-familias to access a map of food donation locations.
DONATIONS: Non-perishable food and personal hygiene items, including frequently requested items like baby diapers. Visit NBCNewYork.com/fooddrive or Telemundo47.com/feature/alimentando-a-nuestras-familiasto access a list of items that can be donated, including a sample “shopping list.”
“Fighting hunger is very important to WNBC. Food banks often face their greatest need between January and August, and regularly depend on volunteers to support their operations. Our April 8 Feeding our Families food and volunteer drive will help local food banks secure these important resources, which will make a difference for families across the Tri-State area,” said Eric Lerner, President and General Manager of NBC 4 New York.
NBC 4 New York and Telemundo 47 will deliver live reports and broadcast cut-ins from several Stop & Shop locations on Saturday, April 8, including on NBC 4 New York’s Weekend Today in New York at 8:30 AM and News 4 New York at 6 PM, as well as on Telemundo 47’s Noticiero 47 Telemundo at 5:30 PM. Stations’ news anchors and reporters will also visit many Stop & Shop collection locations that day to support the on-site efforts.
“We see it time and time again: local families forced to choose between putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their head and children being forced to go to bed hungry. Telemundo 47’s Alimentando a Nuestras food and volunteer drive will allow us to join together as a community to help our friends and neighbors in need,” said Cristina Schwarz, President and General Manager of Telemundo 47. “We encourage our viewers to come out on April 8 and join us to help us strengthen the communities we all call home.”
Stop & Shop, the Tri-State’s largest supermarket chain with 199 stores located throughout the region, is committed to supporting the communities that it serves and those organizations that are on the front lines battling hunger every day. As a food retailer, Stop & Shop recognizes the important role it can play in hunger relief efforts. In 2016, Stop & Shop donated almost $4 million to hunger relief agencies throughout the region. Part of that effort included its signature Meat the Needs program which delivers safe, nutritious and much needed meat to regional food banks and pantries for families in need.
“Stop & Shop is proud to continue its long-standing support of local food banks and pantries on behalf of Feeding Our Families,” said Bob Yager, Stop & Shop New York Division Lead. “This will be the largest single-day food drive Stop & Shop has ever hosted, and our associates are eager to make this incredible event a success.”
Food bank operations face periods of greatest need between January and August — a time outside of traditional periods of giving and volunteering coinciding with the holiday season. Non-perishable items are requested by families daily, but the most frequently-requested items are those not covered by public assistance programs such as WIC and SNAP. These requests range from baby diapers to personal hygiene items such as toilet paper, tampons and more.
Unique to NBC 4 New York and Telemundo 47’s Feeding our Families / Alimentando a Nuestras Familias food and volunteer drive is the “Give 4” recruitment initiative. Those that register to volunteer four hours of their time every four months at local food banks can aid in more ways than stocking shelves, packing supplies and making local deliveries. “Give 4” donors can also assist local food banks and rescue operations through non-physical, customized tasks including accounting, social media, digital marketing and advertising, among others.
For more information on the April 8 Feeding Our Families / Alimentando a Nuestras Familias food and volunteer drive, please visit NBCNewYork.com, Telemundo47.com, StopandShop.com or any participating food bank or food rescue organization.