In honor of Pride Month, Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop has made a donation of $50,000 to seven local organizations supporting the LGBTQ+ community across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Stop & Shop prides itself on being an inclusive workforce and earlier in 2020 earned a designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality, receiving a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index.
In addition to the donation, Stop & Shop associates repurposed Pride towels that were intended to be distributed at Pride parades across the Northeast, which were cancelled due to the pandemic. The towel giveaways were transformed by Stop & Shop associates into hand-sewn face masks that will be donated to local LGBTQ+ organizations. The grocer also donated several hundred reusable bags this month to local food pantries to assist members of the LGBTQ+ community living with homelessness and HIV/AIDS.
“Each year, we look forward to supporting Pride Parades in our communities. Even though they couldn’t take place this year, Stop & Shop wanted to show our support for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Gordon Reid, president of Stop & Shop. “Not only did our associates get out their sewing machines to craft masks for donation, we also identified seven local organizations that provide advocacy and education for LBGTQ+ youth to continue to show our support for this community.”
A total of $50,000 will be donated by Stop & Shop to the following local organizations:
- GLAD in Boston, Massachuetts);
- Roxbury Youthworks in Roxbury, Massachusetts;
- BAGLY in Boston;
- Rhode Island Youth Pride in Providence, Rhode Island;
- Hartford True Colors in Hartford, Connecticut;
- The Door in New York, New York; and
- VNA in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Stop & Shop’s commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community also extends to its suppliers, which include Peanut Butter & Co., a NGLCC-certified, LGBT-owned supplier, and Stonewall Kitchen Products. Both product lines are available at all Stop & Shop stores.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC is an Ahold Delhaize USA company and employs nearly 60,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.
Also, the company recently raised more than $1.3 million to support the COVID-19 response efforts of 13 regional food banks in the Northeast. See story here.
