A food drive sponsored by NBC 4 New York, Telemundo 47, Stop & Shop and food pantries across the tri-state region gathered enough food on Saturday to feed 750,000 family members.
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"Feeding Our Families," a food drive to help end hunger, collected food and donations at 199 Stop & Shop locations across the region. The results of the food drive are preliminary numbers.
Volunteers from partnering food banks will collect and pack all donated items to distribute to local families.
Tri-State Residents Fight Hunger in Droves at 2017 Feeding Our Families Food Drive
Food banks face periods of greatest need between January and August — a time outside of traditional periods of giving and volunteering that coincides with the holiday season. Non-perishable items are requested by families daily, but the most frequently-requested items are those not covered by public assistance programs. These requests range from baby diapers to personal hygiene items such as toilet paper, tampons and more.
"Fighting hunger is very important to WNBC. Food banks often face their greatest need between January and August, and regularly depend on volunteers to support their operations," said Eric Lerner, president and general manager of NBC 4 New York.
"We see it time and time again: local families forced to choose between putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their head and children being forced to go to bed hungry," added Cristina Schwarz, president and general manager of Telemundo 47.
Seven regional food banks joined WNBC and WNJU:
- Food Bank for New York City: http://www.foodbanknyc.org/
- Community Food Bank of New Jersey: http://www.cfbnj.org/
- Connecticut Food Bank: http://www.ctfoodbank.org/
- Food Bank for Westchester: http://www.foodbankforwestchester.org/
- Food Bank of the Hudson Valley: http://foodbankofhudsonvalley.org/
- Island Harvest Food Bank (Long Island): http://www.islandharvest.org/
- The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties: http://www.foodbankmoc.org/
