Over the last five years, the Stop & Shop Food Pantry has provided $100,000 in healthy food donations to make sure students don’t come to school hungry.
They’ve hit a home run against hunger—and the Boston Red Sox have stepped up to the plate to celebrate the victory.
The baseball team’s first baseman Triston Casas showed up at a ceremony to honor the 5-year anniversary of Stop & Shop opening a food pantry inside the Washington S.T.E.M. Elementary School in Lynn, Massachusetts.
He surprised the kids and the entire staff with 500 tickets to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park—as a school-wide field trip.
“We wanted to invite all of you guys to a game this year!” said Casas to the cheering crowd.
Casas took photos with the kids alongside the team’s World Series Trophy and the team’s mascot, Wally The Green Monster.
The in-school pantry first opened in 2019 as one of the original five schools enrolled in the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program, an initiative that has since donated over $112,500 to Washington S.T.E.M.
Stop & Shop’s Jennifer Barr said they now run 235 in-school food pantries across five states in the Northeast. To commemorate the fifth birthday of this original school pantry, she also presented a check for $22,500 to the school.
Stop & Shop is benefitting from the Red Sox ‘Strike Out School Hunger Program’. For every strikeout that’s thrown at Fenway Park, the team donates 10,000 meals to kids in need through the school pantry program.
Casas complimented the kids after hearing how well they are doing at school—with 42 kids being honored for perfect attendance.
“You people do great work, I hear a lot of great things,” the MLB athlete told the assembled crowd.
AMAZING! Red Sox Player Promised Ailing Young Fan That He Would Hit a Home Run; Instead, He Hit Three
This year, 95% of Washington S.T.E.M. students were identified as living below the poverty line, which is why the pantry is called a ‘lifeline’.
Stop & Shop’s food truck was brought in to host a “popsicle party” handing out frozen treats to all students.
They also handed out 250 birthday kits containing cake mix, frosting, birthday cards, and party hats for the school to distribute to students in need on their birthdays.
“The Stop & Shop School Food Pantry program is all about helping students and their families thrive, and the impact we are seeing at Washington S.T.E.M. exemplifies that mission,” said Barr.
GET INVOLVED—> Start By Sharing This News With Charity Lovers on Social Media…