By VASHTI HARRIS
Staff Writer
SPOTSWOOD–Surrounded by a wall of cereal boxes, cake and Scrunchy the Bear, ShopRite officials gathered together to unveil a special-edition Cheerios box that features the local winners of its annual Partners In Caring Cheerios Contest, sponsored in partnership with General Mills.
During the in-store ceremony on March 22, the contest winner, Customer Service Manager Tracy Roszkowski, of South Amboy, helped Store Director Frank Juba unveil the customized Cheerios box that featured store associates from ShopRite of Spotswood that is located on 380 Summerhill Road.
Thousands of ShopRite associates across six states banded together last September in a friendly competition that was sponsored by ShopRite and General Mills, the annual ShopRite Partners In Caring Cheerios Contest.
With this year’s contest theme, “Fighting hunger from the heart – together we can make a difference,” serving as backdrop, ShopRite associates collected donations at check-out and held events in stores to raise awareness and money to fight hunger, according to ShopRite’s press release.
The month-long fundraising effort by ShopRite associates raised $1.4 million to support regional food banks in communities served by ShopRite stores.
And now ShopRite and General Mills are recognizing that dedication and hard work with a prized spot on a special-edition Cheerios box, according to the press release.
“The entire team played an important role, big time. From the front of the store to the rear, it’s one entire team here between the dairy, the frozen and grocery. And I feel that for us to feature two associates on the boxes is a huge honor,” Roszkowski said.
Each of the 40 winning ShopRite stores chose two ShopRite associates to be featured on the iconic Cheerios box. The customized cereal boxes, sold exclusively at ShopRite, will be unveiled at in-store celebrations during March.
Contest winner and ShopRite associate Alissa Persaud of Spotswood was also featured on the box, but was not present for the ceremony.
Each winning store also received prize money: $3,000 for the top five stores and $500 for the remaining winning stores, that will be presented to local food pantries chosen by the respective store teams, according to the press release.
This year, ShopRite of Spotswood chose to give its $500 cash prize to St. George’s Church‘s New Life Food Pantry, located on 56 Main St. in Helmetta.
During the in-store ceremony, Juba and Koszkowski presented Kristin Tabert, director of the New Life Food Pantry, and Rev. Dr. Richard Lafferty of St. George’s Church, with the $500 check.
“This is amazing. Partners In Caring has not only given us a grant in the past to help us with our food but this check today will go a long way. We’ll probably shop here but it will go a long way even to get shelving, bags and maybe some gift cards to give to our patrons, which will be great to let them come and really shop. ShopRite has been so generous to us, and the Wakefern Food Corporation, over the years,” Tabert said.
“This is really [ShopRite’s] passion … and this year’s theme which is fighting hunger makes sense. [ShopRite] has always given us all good food – they don’t give us expired food – they just give us food that just can’t be sold. They have been very generous and conscientious about what they give us.”
For more information on the ShopRite Partners In Caring initiative, visit www.shopritepartnersincaring.org/the-cause/.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].