Wegmans raises $1.6 million in hunger relief donations

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — During the fall 2013 checkout scanning campaign at 47 Wegmans stores in Maryland, New Jersey, the Greater Rochester region of New York , Eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia, hunger relief donations soared to a record $1.6 million, a 14% increase over the fall 2012 total, the grocer reported. 

“We’re grateful to our customers and employees for recognizing the vital role that food banks play in communities,” Linda Lovejoy, Wegmans community relations manager, said. “These results are a testament to remarkable generosity.”

Check Out Hunger and Care About Hunger programs allow customers to donate $1, $2 $3, $5 or any other amount at checkout with 100% of the proceeds going to each store's local food bank.

The fall campaign ran at various dates from September to December. Timing of the annual checkout scanning campaigns varies by region. The remaining Wegmans stores in Buffalo, Syracuse, the Southern Tier, Massachusetts, and parts of Pennsylvania run annual checkout campaigns during the winter months.

Hunger relief scanning campaigns raised a total of $2.7 million at Wegmans in 2013. Since these programs began in 1993, Wegmans has raised more than $23 million for hunger relief.

In addition to money raised for emergency food services in 2013, Wegmans also donated 16.5 million pounds of food to local food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens across all of its market areas.