ShopRite’s Jeff Brown Honored During State of the Union Address

Keasbey, NJ; January 27, 2010 – In honor of his accomplishments in bringing ShopRite supermarkets to urban “food deserts” in and around Philadelphia, Jeff Brown, of Brown’s Super Stores was invited by President and Mrs. Obama to attend tonight’s State of the Union Address.

Mr. Brown will be seated with Michelle Obama during the speech, which will air live on most network television tonight at 9pm, as well as via live webstream at www.whitehouse.gov or on a free iphone app (visit www.whitehouse.gov for more information).

Through the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, Mr. Brown, who owns ten ShopRite stores, partnered with the Reinvestment Fund (which combined public and private funds to finance the initiative) and the Food Trust (a non-profit advocacy group that was researching the food desert problem) to bring ShopRite to low-income neighborhoods, opening four stores that provide fresh foods and healthier options to underserved neighborhoods. Government grants enabled the stores to operate in traditionally unprofitable areas by providing “seed” money in the form of a one-time grant.

The local communities benefit not only from the availability of fresh meat, fish and produce at fair prices, but also from the creation of new jobs. The program includes extensive job and life skills training to ensure an associate’s success.

“Being invited to the State of the Union is quite an honor,” said Mr. Brown, “My wife, Sandy and I have always been committed to helping the communities we serve. To be recognized in this way is something I never expected.”

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About ShopRite

ShopRite supermarkets are members of Wakefern Food Corporation, a retailer-owned cooperative, based in Keasbey, NJ. Through the more than 200 stores located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than five million customers each week. A long-time supporter of key community efforts, ShopRite was named Feeding America’s (formally named America’s Second Harvest) Grocery Distributor of the Year (1999) for its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, a year-round initiative dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities served by ShopRite stores. Since its inception, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated more than $20 million to 1,500 worthy charities and food banks.