Stop & Shop Coupon Program Delivers

BY JOE SCOTCHIE
jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com
The Burgos family of Floral Park traveled to the New Hyde Park Stop & Shop last Thursday in a show of gratitude. Jesus and Sandra Burgos’ nine-year-old son, Leonardo, is a cancer survivor and his treatment is the result of an ambitious fundraising project initiated by the supermarket chain.
At the supermarket, refreshingly air-conditioned on another hot day, the Burgos family presented a check for $1.75 million to Dr. Paul A. Meyers, vice chair of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Department of Pediatrics. In 2014, Leonardo Burgos was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer that strikes the muscle tissue.
However, the treatment worked and the $1.75 million raised for the procedure came through the sale of a Stop & Shop coupon book initiative. Customers who purchased a three-dollar coupon book were able to save $85 in products purchased at any Stop & Shop franchise. The campaign saw 58,000 coupon books being purchased by Stop & Shop customers, all with the goal of both assisting pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering and helping families like the Burgos’s.
“It has been a blessing, a miracle to view his progress,” Jesus Burgos told The Illustrated News. “We don’t know what would have happened [without Stop & Shop’s help]. We had to have faith.”
“It was a glorious day to learn that he was cancer free,” Sandra Burgos added.
In all, Stop & Shop, over the past 15 years, has raised more than $15 million to support pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
“The support Stop & Shop has provided has allowed us to continue to fulfill our mission, to not only cure childhood cancer, but to return patients healthfully back to their parents,” said Meyers. “The hard work each Stop & Shop employee puts into this campaign pays off. We see better outcomes for children and their families. On behalf of the physicians and scientists—and the children who will benefit in the future—I extend our deepest gratitude. We thank Stop & Shop to allow us to use the money wisely and to find a cure.”