5,760 Water Bottles Donated By ShopRite To Parsippany Schools During Lead Crisis

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Helping one another during a time of need, that’s what a community does.

In Parsippany, the family-owned and operated ShopRite knew it needed to take action when it learned seven of the town’s school buildings were found to have lead in their drinking water.

See related: Lead In Water 100 Times Above Limit In Parsippany Elementary School

So on Friday, May 6, ShopRite associates loaded 120 cases of water – or 5,760 bottles – onto a truck for delivery to the district. The bottles were distributed to the elementary schools where drinking fountains have been turned off.

“This is our home and these are our neighbors and we wanted to help,” said Dara Sblendorio of Sunrise ShopRite, Inc., which owns the ShopRite of Parsippany and the ShopRite of West Caldwell. “We are third and fourth generation grocers and we’ve been serving the North Jersey community for more than 70 years.”

See related: Lead Found In Drinking Water At Parsippany Schools

In one of the district’s elementary schools, Lake Hiawatha Elementary, the level of lead tested was more than 100 times the allowable limit, the district reported.

All 14 of the district’s school buildings underwent testing in April, and half of them returned positive results.

Pictured: ShopRite of Parsippany associates Angelo Uccello, left, and Joe Riccio, right, load up water for delivery to Parsippany schools. The ShopRite of Parsippany donated 5,760 bottles of water to schools after testing found the presence of lead in the water at some local schools. Photo Courtesy ShopRite