Dear Fellow Residents,
Last month Mayor Manzo and I, along with township team members, attended the ShopRite of Mullica Hill Partners in Caring ceremony. The event recognized ShopRite of Mullica Hill associates, Stephen Lau and Shelley Wacker, for their outstanding accomplishments in fighting hunger.
Stephen and Shelly along with their co-workers participated in Partners in Caring, a fighting hunger initiative that ShopRite stores support within the communities they serve. In fact, since its inception in 1999, the ShopRite Partners in Caring has donated over $48 million to local charities such as food pantries, homeless shelters, and senior citizen centers. Sadly, more than 42 million Americans including 16 million children, go everyday with food insecurity. Some of whom live in our community.
Thankfully, the Ammons Family, who own and operate the ShopRite of Mullica Hill, have been strong advocates and leaders of Partners in Caring. Every year, their managers and associates put together fundraisers such as hotdog sales, silent auctions, and other initiatives to combat food insecurity. In fact, ShopRites throughout the region participate in Partners in Caring with the top forty-five stores who raise the most money, winning the opportunity to award two associates to appear on a limited-edition box of Cheerios. Our ShopRite has achieved this honor eleven times …Wow! Now that’s Harrison Strong! The Ammons Family and their Mullica Hill store associates chose Your Place at the Table (YPATT), the Hill’s own food bank, and the South Jersey Food Bank as their local charities to support. This is a testament to their commitment in ending hunger in the community they serve.
On behalf of our residents, Mayor Manzo and my fellow Township Committee members, we congratulate Stephen Lau and Shelley Wacker for being the associates chosen to represent the ShopRite of Mullica Hill on the 2023 limited-edition Cheerios box. Typically, cereal brands such as Wheaties and Cheerios place athletes or celebrities on the front of their boxes. You can almost say the face of a cereal box is coveted real estate. So, the fact General Mills is willing to allow (extra)ordinary folks on their product is really cool! As someone who represented the ShopRite of Mullica Hill on the 2015 limited-edition Cheerios Box, I can say it is a proud honor. Thank you to the Ammons Family and their associates for their unquestionable commitment to fighting hunger and serving our community.
In the same Harrison Strong spirit there is another local business that has shown their commitment to fighting hunger in our community. Last week Constantine Benas, owner of the Harrison House Diner, donated twenty-thousand dollars to YPATT. As part of a long-standing partnership, Constantine’s commitment to YPATT started out with just a simple donation jar on the check-out counter of his diner. After the jar was stolen in 2017, Constantine and our community came together to replenish the jar by that afternoon. Now, over the past six years that same jar collected more than twenty-thousand dollars. Although most of it was donated towards the tornado relief, Constantine hopes to raise fifty-thousand dollars to continue supporting YPATT. This is not only another testament of a business committed to our community, but also a community willing to come together and help each other when in need. Thank you Constantine and the Benas family for your generosity and continued commitment to giving back to our community.
For more information on YPATT, please visit https://www.ypatt.org/
Together for Harrison Township,
Lawrence Moore
Committeeman
