Good evening and thank you for this honor. It is my privilege to attend tonight’s gathering and accept this award on behalf of Pathmark. Before I go any further, I’d like to congratulate the other recipients who are also being honored. Pathmark is proud to be a part of this year’s dinner as we focus on fighting hunger.

At Pathmark, we live by a group of Shared Values, or a set of 10 Commandments, if you will, even though there are only 9. One of these Share Values states, “Our actions reflect a strong sense of social responsibility.”

We challenge ourselves to be more than a supermarket in the communities in which we serve. I don’t think there is anyone in this room who would dispute that as great a country as we live in, we still fight the battle to feed many undernourished people. At Pathmark, we believe that one of our social responsibilities is to help those less fortunate.

In the four Northeastern states in which we operate, we see firsthand, the poverty in which many people live. For those not familiar with Pathmark, we have a commitment to locating stores in impoverished areas and providing a service that many people take for granted.

Our incentive to live up to our Shared Value has led us to work with hunger outreach groups such as the Community Food Resource Center in New York City, and the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. Working with these organizations, we have been able to reach out and assist in the enrollment of people into the Food Stamp Program. Over the last three years, seven hundred people were pre-screened at our stores, seventy percent of whom were found to be eligible for the program. We are continuing our partnership with these groups and have now expanded the emphasis to also focus on the educational component of the outreach that includes providing nutritional information to consumers and making healthy choices in their food selections.

The other aspect of Pathmark’s hunger-related mission involves our association with the community food banks located throughout our trade areas. From the volunteer hours our associates commit each month, to the product that is donated, to the funds we raise during the Checkout Hunger Campaign, we value the importance these components play in alleviating hunger.

At this time, I would like to acknowledge two Pathmark associates who made the trip down to Washington with me and are largely responsible for coordinating our interaction with these hunger-related organizations.

Toni Pastre is Pathmark’s Director of Front End Operations and Rich Savner is our Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations.

In closing, I’m told that Pathmark is the first supermarket company to receive this honor from the Council, and we are proud of this achievement.

I’d like to recognize the other retailers from across the country that are attending this evening’s dinner. They are in town for a trade association meeting tomorrow and have come out in support of a fellow member. Any of these retailers could easily be standing here accepting this honor tonight, for the supermarket business is known for its commitment to addressing the challenge of hunger in this country. And while Pathmark is the first retailer to receive this award, I am sure we won’t be the last.

Again, congratulations to the other honorees and on behalf of Pathmark, thank you.