Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop and the Boston Red Sox are partnering in a multi-year campaign to “Strike Out School Hunger” with a pledge to donate 10 million meals to students who are facing food insecurity.
For each Red Sox strikeout during regular season home games, Stop & Shop will donate 10,000 meals to support the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program.
According to the USDA, more than one in five children live in a food insecure household. Launched in 2019, the program works with schools to establish and support food pantries to ensure that kids don’t have to go to school hungry. Stop & Shop supports nearly 100 in-school pantries thus far in Boston, Lynn, Fall River and communities across New England.
“Making sure kids have consistent access to food is the reason we created the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program. We want to limit the barriers that can impact a students’ ability to succeed and help them to build better futures,” said Gordon Reid, president of Stop & Shop. “By teaming up with the Boston Red Sox, we’re excited to get the baseball and broader New England community involved in the cause – and to shine an even brighter spotlight on the pressing issue of childhood hunger.”
The partnership will include a special activation for Hunger Action Day on Sept. 17 at Fenway Park, where for the first time, an “orange out” will occur on the Green Monster when ticketholders seated in the area will be given orange T-shirts to raise awareness around food insecurity. There will also be a food drive at the ballpark, where ticketholders will be encouraged to bring donations of non-perishable items that will be donated to Stop & Shop’s local school food pantries.
“Tackling food insecurity felt by students throughout New England by committing 10 million meals to Stop & Shop’s school food pantry program will have real impact,” said Troup Parkinson, Red Sox EVP. “We could not think of a more meaningful way to activate a longstanding partnership with our friends at Stop & Shop and look forward to working together to combat childhood hunger.”
To learn more, visit stopandshop.com/pages/school-food-pantry-program.
