Price Rite Marketplace and Feed the Children kicked off their annual Feeding Minds & Bodies campaign with a hunger-fighting event in Rhode Island that helped hundreds of families.
The gathering, the first of eight similar events planned this year, took place at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the start of GoProvidence’s Providence Culinary Collective, a celebration of the city’s food scene.
With support from GoProvidence, Community Action Partnership of Providence, Boys & Girls Club of Providence and Pepsi, Price Rite Marketplace was able to provide a 25-pound box of food, a 15-pound box of hygiene essentials, backpacks filled with school supplies, children’s books and Price Rite Marketplace gift cards to nearly 400 families who were pre-identified by the nonprofits.
“We are proud to kick off the 11th annual Feeding Minds & Bodies program and continue our mission to help as many families in need as possible,” said Kevin McDonnell, president of Price Rite Marketplace. “Since partnering with Feed the Children nearly 11 years ago, we have provided food and essentials to nearly 200,000 people.”
Price Rite Marketplace and Feed the Children representatives were joined by Kristen Adamo, president and CEO of GoProvidence; David Banno, president and CEO of Community Action Partnership of Providence; and state and local dignitaries, including Nick Vincelette, policy coordinator for U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, and Javier Montañez, Providence Public Schools superintendent.
With one in five children in the U.S. experiencing food insecurity, the Feeding Minds & Bodies initiative is designed to bring attention to and fight the issue of childhood hunger.
“A widespread issue like childhood hunger will only be solved when enough people work together,” said Emily Callahan, president and CEO of Feed the Children.
“We are grateful to be working with Price Rite, GoProvidence, Community Action Partnership of Providence, Boys & Girls Club of Providence and Pepsi to support the community in Providence. Through the power of partnership, we can make a greater impact as we seek to create a world where no child goes to bed hungry.”
Since partnering with Feed the Children, Price Rite Marketplace has contributed about 4 million pounds of food, totaling more than $14 million in gift-in-kind donations, helping more than 228,000 people in 57 cities.
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