NBC 4 New York, Telemundo 47, Stop & Shop and food pantries across the tri-state area have teamed up for "Feeding Our Families," a food drive to help end hunger.
On April 8, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., you can donate items at 199 Stop & Shop locations across the region, as well as at other participating food pantries. To find a store near you, check the map above. Volunteers from partnering food banks will collect and pack all donated items to distribute to local families.
Food banks face periods of greatest need between January and August — a time outside of traditional periods of giving and volunteering coinciding 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. See a sample shopping list here.
"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. "Our April 8 Feeding our Families food and volunteer drive will help local food banks secure these important resources, which will make a difference for families across the tri-state area."
"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. "Telemundo 47’s Alimentando a Nuestras food and volunteer drive will allow us to join together as a community to help our friends and neighbors in need. We encourage our viewers to come out on April 8 and join us to help us strengthen the communities we all call home."
Seven regional food banks have agreed to join WNBC and WNJU on Saturday, April 8:
- 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/
