Big Y Works to Sack Hunger

SPRINGFIELD — For the ninth year, all Big Y supermarkets are working to help feed the hungry within their local communities through Care to Share Sack Hunger, a large, reusable grocery bag filled with staple non-perishable food items for local food banks.

Customers purchase a Sack Hunger bag of groceries for $10, and Big Y distributes the food to that region’s local food bank. In turn, the food banks distribute the filled sacks to area soup kitchens, food pantries, senior food programs, day-care centers, as well as many of its other member agencies.

All of the donated sacks are distributed within the supermarket’s marketing area, so every donation stays within the local community. Since its inception nine years ago, more than 133,000 bags of food have been donated to area needy via Big Y’s Care to Share Sack Hunger Program. This year’s campaign runs through Wednesday, Dec. 26.

As an additional option, customers may choose to purchase and donate a $10 ‘virtual bag’ at the register that will be used by the agencies to purchase turkeys or whatever is most needed. Online donations will also be accepted. Visit www.bigy.com/rs/giftcards for more information.

As an added bonus, any customer donations made on Saturday, Nov. 17 will be matched by Big Y.

“Our Sack Hunger program makes it easy for our customers to provide nutritious, non-perishable staple food to those less fortunate within our community,” said Donald D’Amour, chairman and CEO. “We all appreciate their efforts to make this a bigger program each year.”

All five food banks within Big Y’s marketing area are participating in Sack Hunger. These food banks, representing more than 2,100 member agencies throughout the region, include the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Worcester County Food Bank, Foodshare of Greater Hartford, and the Connecticut Food Bank.

The sacks include the following non-perishable Big Y items: instant rice, corn flakes, creamy peanut butter, tuna, kidney beans, green beans, whole-kernel corn, quick oats, elbow macaroni, and sweet peas. Sacks are available at all 70 Big Y supermarkets and Fresh Acres. Last year, Big Y customers donated nearly 22,000 bags of food to those in need, and the company hopes to beat that figure this year.