BINGHAMTON, NY – In honor of National Dairy Month, a regional grocery store chain is helping to make certain that the needy have access to milk.

For the 7th year, Price Chopper is partnering with the American Dairy Association North East for the “Fill A Glass With Hope” promotion.

Customers are asked to round their bill up to the nearest dollar at check out.

That money is then given to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier in our region so that it can purchase milk directly from local farmers.

Binghamton Price Chopper Manager Rich Brown says milk is a supermarket staple.

“Milk is essential to a grocery store business. You’ve got milk, you’ve got bread, you’ve got butter. It’s usually the first thing on everybody’s list to get. Which fits in perfectly with the promotion we’re trying to do,” says Brown.

The Dairy Association says milk is one of the most requested items at food pantries, yet challenging to stock because it is perishable.

Terry Ives is a fifth generation dairy farmer in Bainbridge.

He and his wife Julie own Greenview Farms.

Ives says it’s especially important for children facing hunger to have access to nutritious milk.

“Milk and dairy products are very nutrient-rich products. They can get a lot of nutrients right from their dairy products and that’s why we support this program in order to have a better fed community,” says Ives.

Over the first 6 years, Price Chopper has raised 170 thousand dollars for regional food banks across its footprints.

That’s translated into 35,000 gallons of milk being purchased from area farmers.