Family-to-Family Joins Peapod by Stop & Shop to Welcome Hurricane Sandy Families Home

NEW YORK, April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As the six month anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaches, Family-to-Family, Inc. (www.family-to-family.org) along with Peapod (www.peapod.com), the country's leading online grocery service, announces a 90-day campaign to restock the kitchen cupboards of families still struggling from the effects of the storm.

Through its website, Family-to-Family has provided a simple way for donors across the country to click, order and share a "Comforts of Home Welcome Home Box" for affected families (www.family-to-family.org/comforts-of-home-welcome-home-boxes-2/). For $62, the care packages are filled with basic food essentials for selected hurricane-affected families in Staten Island, The Rockaways, Brooklyn, New York City and Ocean County, New Jersey. Peapod by Stop & Shop, which will fulfill the orders and deliver the groceries to each recipient family's doorstep, has also committed to donating a matching box for the first 200 bought by donors and has offered to waive all delivery fees.

"It's been six months since the hurricane hit and many families are still struggling, financially and emotionally, to put the broken pieces of their lives back together," says Pam Koner, Founder and Executive Director of Family-to-Family. "'Comforts of Home' boxes will help these families in a concrete way and also let them know they haven't been forgotten." 

Funded by an operational grant from Robin Hood, the effort is aimed at bringing the aromas, tastes and 'comforts of home' back into the lives of the hardest hit Sandy families, as well as ease the financial burden of replacing costly grocery staples.

Boxes will include items like flour, sugar, herbs and spices, olive oil, oatmeal, breadcrumbs, peanut butter and jelly, black beans, rice, pasta, cereal and condiments. Recipient families can choose from three food types: regular, low-sodium or diabetic.

"This is the best kind of delivery we can make," said Peg Merzbacher, director of marketing for Peapod. "The kitchen – and the food in it – is the centerpiece and heart of every home, so it's so important that we are able to help families affected by Sandy rebuild with these essentials."

In addition, donors can purchase a second box (also for $62) for the family they're helping – a "Clean-up Box" – filled with household cleaning supplies including laundry detergent and bathroom and kitchen cleaners also supplied by Peapod.

Joining Family-to-Family's efforts, the NYC chapter of WGIRLS INC. has pledged $20,000 to both supplement the "Comforts of Home Welcome Home Box" effort and support Family-to-Family's mission to meet the future needs of hurricane victims as they arise.

A national hunger and poverty relief organization, Family-to-Family creates impactful one-to-one connections, matching donors across the U.S. with specific families in need. Since the hurricane hit, Family-to-Family has provided Hurricane Sandy victims with pillows, blankets, air mattresses, clothing, kitchen items, small appliances, holiday toys and dinners, space heaters, cleaning products, cell phones, children's art therapy programs and more.

For more information about Family-to-Family visit www.family-to-family.org, follow Family-to-Family on Twitter at @famtofamily, or 'like' on Facebook at www.facebook.com/famtofamily.

About Family-to-Family

Family-to-Family (www.family-to-family.org) is a non-profit national relief organization dedicated to creating one-to-one connections with families looking to help other American families struggling with hunger, tragedy or economic standing. The Family-to-Family programs create a bridge between communities with enough to share, with areas of the country in need. For more information about Family-to-Family, follow Family-to-Family on Twitter at @famtofamily, or 'like' on Facebook at www.facebook.com/famtofamily.

About Peapod

Founded in 1989 as a smart shopping option for busy people, Peapod today stands as the country's leading Internet grocer, serving 24 U.S. markets in communities in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. An Ahold USA company, Peapod has made over 23 million deliveries since its late 1980s inception. For more information on Peapod, call 1.800.5.PEAPOD (573.2763); e-mail [email protected] or visit www.peapod.com.

SOURCE Peapod