Stop & Shop customers, partners donate nearly $2 million through Food for Friends program

QUINCY, Mass. — Stop & Shop announced that its customers and partners donated nearly $2 million through the company's annual fundraising program.

The supermarket chain said it will donate 100% of the funds, raised through the 22nd annual Food for Friends program, to regional food banks and local pantries across the Northeast as part of the company's hunger relief efforts.

The storewide effort ran from Oct. 28 and through Dec. 11, 2011.

"Food for Friends is an easy way for communities to come together and give food security to those who wouldn't otherwise have it," said Mark McGowan, president of Stop & Shop's New England division. "We are proud to have partnered with our customers and help provide more than 15 million meals to families across the Northeast this winter."