Weis and its customers donate $39K to CHOW

WEST CORNERS -- Peanut butter. Pasta sauce. Box after box made its way into the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse's truck in front of the West Corners Weis Market.

Weis officials joined Broome County Council of Churches Executive Director Joseph Sellepack in the effort -- and not just with the loading. The Sunbury, Pa.-based supermarket chain gave CHOW a $14,000 corporate donation Monday.

The chain's Southern Tier customers also made $24,828 in donations to Southern Tier hunger organizations during the four-week Fight Hunger campaign. The nearly $39,000 total is expected to generate about 31,200 meals for the needy, said Weis District Manager Mike Umstead.

CHOW, a program of the Council of Churches, also gets price breaks for purchasing food pantry items at Weis, Sellepack said. "They give us wholesale, which adds to the gift," he said.

The donation is particularly appreciated in light of the September flooding, which ravaged the Southern Tier -- including the neighborhood near the West Corners store.

"A lot of fallout from the flood hasn't even been felt yet," such as its effect on the region's economy, Sellepack said.

Weis operates 161 stores in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia, including 11 in the Southern Tier.

Written by
Jennifer Micale