SCARBOROUGH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Hannaford Supermarkets is increasing its annual giving program by 10 percent this year to start a new program to help disadvantaged children.
Hannaford's president announced the $40,000 initiative at the company's Maine headquarters in Scarborough this morning. The money being donated by Hannaford will go to help disadvantaged children both in and out of the classroom.
A majority of it, $250,000, will help put kids through summer camp and youth development programs. Camp Susan Curtis will be one of the beneficiaries, a program that relies exclusively on donations to keep it running.
"We've been around for 40 years, it's always been tuition free so to maintain that tuition free we get donations from all over the state so this is tremendously, tremendously important to us," said Melissa Cilley with Camp Susan Curtis.
This week Hannaford employees came together to pack boxes with supplies and food for schools throughout Maine, New Hampshire and three other states where the grocery chain operates. It also includes gift cards for teachers to help pay for those items they use in their classrooms that they typically pay for themselves.
The boxes will be shipped to all Hannaford stores. From there they'll be distributed to schools throughout the communities.
