Wakefern Food Corp. Donates $1 Million to Kean University for Scholarship Honoring Alumnus Joe Sheridan
2024年5月22日 - 1:46AM
Wakefern Food Corp. has announced a $1 million donation for student
scholarships at Kean University in honor of the company’s
recently-retired president, Kean alumnus Joe Sheridan ’80.
The New Jersey-based
supermarket cooperative that includes retail banners ShopRite,
Price Rite Marketplace and the Fresh Grocer endowed the “Joe
Sheridan Resiliency Scholarship” to help students in the
University’s College of Business and Public Management (CBPM)
pursue their professional goals and dreams.
Sheridan, an Elizabeth
native who retired as president and chief operating officer in
December after nearly five decades with Wakefern, is an active
supporter of the Kean University Foundation as well as many other
social and community causes.
“Wakefern’s generous gift
honoring Kean alumnus Joe Sheridan creates a lasting legacy at Kean
and offers students a financial safety net to continue their
studies and follow in the footsteps of Joe and other prominent Kean
alumni,” said Kean President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D. “We are
grateful to Joe for his support throughout his years, and we thank
Wakefern for their generosity in his name.”
The Kean University Board
of Trustees on May 6 voted to name the 6th floor boardroom at
Kean’s Hynes Hall after Sheridan and expressed gratitude to
Wakefern for the support.
Sheridan said he was
grateful for the education he received at Kean, which is New
Jersey’s urban research university.
“I have been blessed
throughout my career to work in a field – the supermarket industry
– that serves our communities every day and am pleased that
Wakefern, where I spent so many happy and successful years, is
helping students at Kean achieve their dreams,” he said. “I look
forward to continuing to support my alma mater and its
students.”
Steve Fastook ’06H, chair
of the Kean Board of Trustees, said Kean is pleased to honor
Sheridan as a graduate and a supporter.
“Joe Sheridan was born
and raised in Elizabeth, graduated from Kean, and has never
forgotten his roots,” Fastook said. “We are proud to count Joe
among our many successful Kean alumni, and deeply appreciate this
incredible gift to our students.”
The Joe Sheridan
Resiliency Scholarship will benefit, in perpetuity, Kean CBPM
students who maintain a GPA of 3.0 or above and who have
demonstrated financial need.
“It is our great pleasure
to thank Joe Sheridan and Wakefern, and express our deepest
appreciation for this gift,” said William Miller, chief executive
officer of the Kean University Foundation. “Through Joe’s vision
and compassion, Kean’s College of Business and Public Management
students will get a helping hand to keep them on track to
graduation and the chance to build their own successful
careers.”
Sheridan earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in management science from Kean in 1980
and his wife, Joan Sheridan, received her master’s degree in
educational administration and supervision from Kean in 1986.
Joe Sheridan began
working as a selector in Wakefern’s Elizabeth, New Jersey warehouse
in 1976, before he graduated. He rose through the ranks at Wakefern
to become president of the company in 2011.
During Sheridan’s tenure
as vice president and president at Wakefern, he shepherded
membership and store growth; launched one of the grocery industry’s
earliest online shopping platforms in 2002; and rolled out
Wakefern’s popular private label product lines Bowl & Basket,
Wholesome Pantry and Paperbird.
Wakefern, a
retailer-owned cooperative with 45 members and 365 supermarkets,
including ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, the Fresh Grocer,
Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, Dearborn Market and Di Bruno Bros.,
also became a leader in social responsibility under Sheridan’s
stewardship.
“The creation of the Kean
scholarship is in keeping with Joe Sheridan’s desire to give back,”
said Wakefern Chief Communications Officer Karen Meleta.
“Throughout his career,
Joe furthered Wakefern’s commitment to community through his
support of our ShopRite Partners In Caring program, which was
created in 1999 and to date has donated more than $62 million to
hunger-fighting organizations,” she added.
Sheridan has been an
active volunteer with Special Olympics New Jersey and other
nonprofits such as the Embrace Kids Foundation and the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation. Creating the scholarship at Kean University
was a fitting way to honor his legacy at Wakefern.
Margaret McCorry
Kean University
mmccorry@kean.edu