Kinney Drugs milk donation campaign raised 3,143 gallons for the Central New York and Vermont food banks.

Customers and employees in all 98 stores, including several in St. Lawrence County, across the chain purchased gallons of milk for donation to families in need during the holiday season.

Kinney Drugs partnered with Upstate Farms in New York and Hood Milk in Vermont to donate the proceeds to the CNY Food Bank and the Vermont Food Bank. The milk will be distributed on a weekly basis as needed to help supply families in need through the holidays and beyond.

The milk donation campaign began two years ago from an idea in a single store in Potsdam, New York. Through the efforts of all of the Kinney Drugs store teams and vendor partners, the November campaign was the first to be held across all locations in the chain.

“As an employee-owned company, giving back to our local communities is one of the core values we have at Kinney Drugs,” Vanessa Graham, category manager and the organizer of the campaign, said in a prepared statement from Kinney’s. “To be able to start with just an idea in one location, watching it spread to our full chain, and seeing the outcome through the dedication of our employees and the generosity of our customers has been amazing. This truly was a great campaign that we look forward to continuing in the future.”