Stop & Shop raises money for cancer programs

Stop & Shop announced that it has reached its goal of raising $3.75 million for a program designed to help care for those with childhood cancer and to search for a cure.

The Quincy chain's fund-raising mechanism is the Triple Winner game, a scratch card promotion in which participants can win a free product, a gift card, or cash prizes up to $10,000.

The promotion, now in its 18th year, distributed tickets to customers who made a $1 donation to fight pediatric cancer.

“Triple Winner has been the cornerstone of Stop & Shop’s efforts to help eradicate childhood cancer,” José Alvarez, president and chief executive for Stop & Shop, said in a statement. “Through this program, our associates, customers and suppliers have raised more than $48 million since 1991 to directly support cancer research and care for children.”

The 2008 Triple Winner game raised $2.5 million for the Jimmy Fund and $1.25 million for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said Stop & Shop, which operates nearly 400 supermarkets throughout much of the Northeast.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)