Stop & Shop is teaming up with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Warwick to distribute 200 bags of healthy food to 200 area families this Saturday.

“We are thrilled this community-minded market asked our Club to host a food distribution that will benefit a large number of families struggling with food insecurity,” said BGCW’s executive director Lara D’Antuono.

“Our staff and members are also excited because we see this as a perfect opportunity to share some of the tasty, easy and nutritious recipes children have been working on as part of our Healthy Habits ‘On the Move to Eating Right’ program funded by Dunkin’s Joy In Childhood Foundation.” 

On March 20, the first 200 families who visit BGCW’s Norwood branch located at 42 Frederick St., between 10a.m. and noon, will each receive one reusable Stop & Shop bag containing: bunch of bananas, 4lb bag of navel oranges, 3lb bag of gala apples, 2lb bag of carrots and 5lb bag of sweet potatoes donated by the grocery chain, as well as some of the kids’ favorite healthy and delicious recipes on cards they create themselves.

Reports are that one-in-four Rhode Island households do not have enough to eat. Early in the pandemic, more than 70 percent of BGCW’s families responding to a Club survey reported suffering financial loss as a result of virus-related shutdowns.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Warwick has been an integral part of Warwick for more than 55 years. Its three branches, located in the Norwood and Oakland Beach neighborhoods, provide services to more than 1,600 boys and girls, ages 5-18, in the key areas of Character & Leadership Development, Education & Career Development, Health & Life Skills, the Arts, and Sports, Fitness and Recreation. For more information about Boys & Girls Clubs programs, please contact the administrative office at 467-4385 or visit www.wbgclubs.org