Major food corporation helps feed the hungry in New Jersey diocese

Published: 2005-10-04

METUCHEN, N.J. (CNS) -- For the first time, a major food corporation has responded to the need to feed the hungry in the Metuchen Diocese. "We're empowered with a budget at the store level to donate and put money where we think it's needed," said Scott Payne, store manager of Wegmans grocery store in Woodbridge. Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is a supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. The Metuchen Diocese helps provide food to people "from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick to Phillipsburg," Payne noted. "They're all our customers and it's our responsibility to respond." In mid-September, his store delivered the first of two truckloads of food to be distributed through food pantries operated by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities. "It's really exhilarating to see the people giving their time and talent," said Vincent E. Stahl, director of the Metuchen diocesan Office of Development, who started organizing the food donation from Wegmans in April.

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