Price Rite partners with Feed the Children, distributes food and school supplies to local families
This is the second year that Feed the Children has selected Manchester as one of eight communities to receive the items.
MANCHESTER, NH — More than 400 families received boxes of food, personal hygiene essentials and backpacks filled with school supplies, all courtesy of Price Rite Marketplace and Feed the Children.
The event, held Thursday in the supermarket’s parking lot off Valley Street, was co-sponsored by Conagra and New Hampshire Food Bank, whose staff selected the families in need of the groceries and supplies.
“I think it’s amazing. It’s great,” said Maria Ayala, 28, the mother of three children, a son and two pre-school age daughters. It was a little after 10 a.m. when, after working a 12-hour shift as a licensed nursing assistant, Ayala pulled up in one of two lanes alongside tables piled high with boxes of food, supplies and backpacks. Dozens of volunteers were on hand to load the cars with the packages.
“I’ve never seen this before,” she said. It’s amazing. It’s really nice.”
This is the second year that Feed the Children has selected Manchester as one of eight communities to receive the items.
Joe Allegro, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships for Feed the Children, said the food and supplies will help 400 families or about 1,600 people in the city. A tractor-trailer truck, with Feed the Children logo and Help Defeat Hunger labeling on it, was filled with about $100,000 worth of food from the corporate sponsor Conagra, he said. Price Rite gave the families a bag of fresh produce including lettuce, carrots and celery, along with shelf-stable items.
Michael Ippolito, director of Human Resources for Price Rite, said this is the fifth year the company has partnered with Feed the Children. Annually, Price Rite sponsors eight events; Manchester is the fourth this year. Each event helps 400 to 800 families or about 22,000 people.
“One out of six children nationally go to bed each night not knowing where their next meal is coming from,” he said. “This will probably help for a week or two.”
In New Hampshire, 122,860 people are struggling with hunger — and of those, 31,640 are children, according to 2016 statistics gathered by Feeding America. One in eight NH children struggles with hunger.Food boxes, weighing 25 pounds each, contained spaghetti, corn flakes, canned vegetables and other items. The 10-pound boxes of essentials had shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and other hygienics. Each family also received a case of bottled water.
The backpacks contained books, courtesy of Disney, crayons, pencils, erasers, a ruler and other needed school items.
Price Rite and Feed the Children created the initiative, Feeding Minds & Bodies. The campaign’s goal is to help tackle childhood hunger and promote healthy childhood development by providing food, personal care items, books and school supplies throughout the year.
The events address seasonal issues such as lack of food during the summer months, back-to-school and holiday hunger. Since the partnership began in 2015, about 1.7 million pounds of food have been donated.
Attending the event were Ryan Mahoney, Chief of Staff for Mayor Joyce Craig; Ted Gatsas, State of New Hampshire Executive Councilor – District 4; Eileen Liponis, ExecutiveDirector of New Hampshire Food Bank; Rebecca Rocheleau on behalf of Senator Maggie Hassan; Christian Seasholtz on behalf of Congressman Chris Pappas;Amy Allen, Assistant Superintendent, Manchester School District; Rich Randazzo, district manager, Price Rite Marketplace; Sal Perla, human resources generalist, Price Rite Marketplace; Shanna Carnes, Event Manager, Feed the Children.
Feed the Children is a 501(c)3 with a mission of helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow, while providing food and resources to help them today. Learn more here.
