SHHS Food Pantry Receives Grant From Supermarket Chain

The Sleepy Hollow High School (SHHS) food pantry was recently awarded a grant from the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program. The program currently supports more than 250 school food pantries across a five-state region, including 85 in New York. Its mission is to ensure that every student and family in their local communities has the resources they need to thrive both inside and outside of the classroom.

“Stop & Shop is committed to eliminating hunger in the communities we serve. Through the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program, we strive to remove barriers that impact students’ ability to succeed by ensuring they have consistent access to food,” said Daniel Wolk, External Communications & Community Relations Manager at Stop & Shop. “We are proud to support the Sleepy Hollow High School Food Pantry with a $12,500 donation, reinforcing our shared mission to combat food insecurity among students and their families. This contribution will help provide free, nutritious food to over 130 families each week.”

This grant came about unexpectedly when Jacki Geoghegan, who runs the SHHS Food Pantry, happened to be at the right place at the right time.

“One day I went to pick up food from Feeding Westchester for our pantry, and I just so happened to be there at the same time as a representative from Stop & Shop,” said Ms. Geoghegan. “She noticed our district logo and asked if we were from a school food pantry. I said yes and she put me in touch right away with one of her colleagues, who is the manager of the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program.”

Since receiving the grant, the SHHS Food Pantry has been able to add to its distributions, which serve approximately 130 district families on a weekly basis during the school year and bi-weekly in the summer. This grant has given the pantry the ability to add versatile staples such as rice and pasta to the fresh fruits and vegetables they are able to provide families through other community partners, such as Feeding Westchester and The TaSH Farmers Market.

“This partnership with Stop & Shop really helps us fill in the gaps,” said Kristen Ward, Secretary to the Director of Health, PE & Athletics for the district, who co-runs the SHHS Food Pantry with Ms. Geoghegan. “Working alongside the Stop & Shop grocery manager, we have been able to maximize our dollars through shopping upcoming sales and promotions.”

Both Ms. Geoghegan and Ms. Ward stated that this donation has been exciting and a much-needed bonus for the families they serve.

“This is a great partnership for us, it’s come at such an important time because registration in our pantry has steadily increased. We are grateful to Stop & Shop because they have committed to helping us fight food insecurity in our community. We’ve added more than 70 families this school year,” said Ms. Geoghegan. “We try to make our pantry a welcoming place for all. It’s the best part of my Mondays, and I think our volunteers would agree. We’re happy to see our families who come, it’s like they have become an extended family.”

“We were so excited when we found out about the grant. We knew that this would be so impactful for our pantry. We have some great partners already, but with Stop & Shop we know that if we need anything, they are right there,” added Ms. Ward. “Having this grant has given us reassurance that we will be able to provide needed food for our families, it’s been an amazing partnership so far.”