HARWICH – To help food pantries prepare for a rise in demand during the holiday season due to COVID-19, Restore, Stop & Shop’s reduced-emissions fuel program, has donated $10,000 grants to five hunger-relief organizations.
One of those organizations is The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, which is dedicated to serving the needs of the less fortunate on the Cape.
Additionally, the Restore Program will calculate and offset the organization’s operational carbon emissions making the organization carbon neutral to help protect the environment.
“While the Restore program traditionally focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of our fuel customers, we expanded the program’s focus to help local hunger-relief organizations support the increased number of people who are facing food insecurity as a result of the pandemic,” said Michael Farrell, Store Manager of the Harwich Stop & Shop location.
“The grant will provide additional assistance to The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, which plays such a critical role in feeding those in need, especially during the holiday season.”
According to Feeding America, the economic impact of COVID-19 could push the number of food insecure Americans to 54 million by the end of 2020.
Locally, around 10% of the population on the Cape typically experiences food insecurity, which equals about 28,000 people.
The Family Food Pantry of Cape Cod serves 10,000 individuals and 4,200 families annually.
The Family Pantry also runs five “Healthy Meals in Motion Mobile Pantry” programs serving the towns of Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham and Provincetown.
“We thank the Stop & Shop Restore Program for this generous grant, which will help us provide 40,000 meals to our neighbors facing hunger,” said Chris Menard, Executive Director of The Family Pantry of Cape Cod.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have seen a consistent demand in the number of individuals and families we serve and anticipate that number will continue to grow if the coronavirus surges again.”
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