HARTFORD, Conn. — Stop & Shop presented a $159,000 check to the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities during the pre-game ceremonies of the Hartford Yard Goats game Tuesday evening.
The funds are coming at a time when many schools are seeing a surge in need for food assistance. Terrence Cheng, chancellor of the Connecticut State College & University system, accepted the check on behalf of CSCU.
Cheng said, “This is going to make a big difference for so many of our students.”
The CSCU system is a part of the Stop & Shop school food pantry program, which donates food items to college campuses to fill their pantries. The $159,000 donation is higher than what was dispersed to the schools last year.
Stephanie Cunha, communications manager for Stop & Shop, said, “We’re seeing about a $26,000 increase in our donation this year because CSCU has showed that there are more and more students that are utilizing the pantries and there’s a greater need there.”
To address that need, Stop & Shop also collected donated food items inside the main gate at Dunkin' Park. Every dollar and donation translates to a student’s grocery bag filled both during the school year and on breaks.
“Food insecurity doesn’t go away just because school is not in session. So there are a lot of students who use the food pantry year-round,” said Cheng.
Central Connecticut State University is among the organizations that will benefit from these funds. During the 2022-23 academic year, the on-campus food pantry, Maria's Place, had 407 visits. In the 2023-24 academic year, that number spiked to 1600 visits.
“Students need food in their bellies to be successful and thrive,” said Cunha.
“As soon as we can divide it and disperse it, it’ll go out there and it’s going to start making an impact for our students right away, across all 17 of our campuses,” added Cheng.
Along with this annual donation, Stop & Shop also holds a “register campaign” to continue its fight against food insecurity which customers can contribute to beginning in August.
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Kaelee Collins is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kcollins@fox61.com. Follow her on X, and Instagram.
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