While college football fans may be looking forward to next year’s season, Price Rite Marketplace and the University at Buffalo football team are making a difference off the field by tackling food insecurity through their “Sack Hunger” campaign.
As part of the partnership, Price Rite Marketplace donates a “sack” of groceries that include canned goods and fresh produce, along with an additional pallet of food containing a mix of rice, pasta and springwater to the New Beginnings Food Pantry from Amherst Baptist Church. A sack takes place when the quarterback is tackled by the defense for a loss of yards before a pass is thrown. This year Buffalo recorded 43 sacks and in doing so helped needy individuals and families throughout Amherst and surrounding areas. The team finished eighth in the nation in total sacks, helping propel them to the Bahamas Bowl and their first bowl victory in school history.
The Sack Hunger program kicked off in September 2018 as an integrated relationship with University at Buffalo Athletics and its multimedia rights holder, Learfield’s Bulls Sports Properties. The Sack Hunger fundraising campaign is part of a joint effort to tackle hunger locally through a season-long promotion in partnership with the UB Football team. In 2018, the program resulted in 36 “sacks” of food being donated to the New Beginning Food Pantry. In total 79 sacks of food have been donated to the New Beginnings Food Pantry as a result of the program.
At this year’s event, held Feb. 11 at the Price Rite Marketplace of Amherst, Price Rite associates joined Lance Leipold, head coach of the University at Buffalo football, to present the sacks of food to representatives from New Beginnings Food Pantry from Amherst Baptist Church.
Price Rite Marketplace is a committed member of its local community, and fighting hunger is at the heart of Price Rite Marketplace’s charitable giving. Price Rite Marketplace fights food insecurity through its support of local food banks, its annual Check-Out Hunger fundraising campaign and its partnership with Feed The Children, contributing approximately $500,000 annually to local food banks and food pantries to benefit families in need within the communities its stores serves.
