Stop & Shop Customers to Offer Support to Help Pediatric Cancer Research
Stop & Shop customers will have the opportunity to help support pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) by purchasing discount coupons at checkout. Customers will receive $10 worth of coupons for just a $2 donation, and a new series of coupons will be made available every two weeks during the eight-week fundraising effort. The coupons will be available at all area Stop & Shop stores.
Proceeds will benefit Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Department of Pediatrics. Since 2001, Stop & Shop has raised almost $70 million for charitable causes, with $17.9 million given to support pediatric cancer research at MSK. This year, the company goal is to raise another $1.3 million on behalf of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Department of Pediatrics.
“This campaign with Memorial Sloan Kettering will help ensure families get the best care possible for their children,” said Bob Yager, Senior Vice President and Division Lead of Stop & Shop New York Metro Division. “We are so appreciative of the generosity of each of our customers who continue to make this campaign a success. By working together, we are proud that Stop & Shop and our customers can make a difference.”
“The support Stop & Shop has provided us for the past 16 years has allowed us to continue to fulfill our mission. We hope to not only cure childhood cancer, but to send our patients back to their homes, schools, families and friends in exactly the condition they were in before this devastating diagnosis,” said Paul A. Meyers, MD, Vice Chair of MSK Department of Pediatrics. “The hard work each Stop & Shop employee puts into this campaign truly pays off. We see better outcomes for kids and for their families. On behalf of the physicians and scientists who work tirelessly to conquer childhood cancers – and the children who will benefit now and in the future – I extend our deepest gratitude.”
Last Mother’s Day, 12-year old Connor was playing in the backyard of his family’s Clark, NJ home when he fell and injured his knee. “I told my Mom it really hurt, and she said it was just a bad bruise, but the pain never went away,” said Connor. He was subsequently diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a cancerous tumor of the bone. Connor underwent a knee and partial femur replacement and is undergoing physical therapy so that he can relearn to walk, and hopes to soon be walking without a cane. “The Carl H. Kumph Middle School faculty and student body have been so supportive,” said his mother Lisa. “The Teachers Association raised money to benefit him, and his classmates held a fundraiser in his honor to benefit MSK. Three teachers from the school home tutored him so that he could keep up with his studies.”
Jonathan lives in Highland Mills, NY with his mom and dad, Nisse and Shinu. In August of 2015, he underwent what was supposed to be a routine tonsillectomy, but a week later was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), and is currently receiving maintenance chemotherapy treatments. “Friends and family have been there for us from the very beginning. They have not only helped us financially, but have prayed with us,” said Jonathan’s mother Nisse. “Our small church raised over $10,000 to assist us and White Plains Middle School, where I am a special education teacher, held kickball games, and sold magnets and bracelets in support of Jonathan. We never felt that we or Jonathan were in this alone.” Jonathan loves everything about science and technology. He and his family are planning a trip to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii this summer so that he can see all of the planes, boats and helicopters stationed there.
To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com or www.facebook.com/stopandshop.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/