Donate NowMonica Murphy
Fourteen year old Monica never thought of herself as a Hunger Fighting SuperKid, she just loved helping people. As a young girl, Monica volunteered at a soup kitchen and she saw first-hand how many people needed this service, especially kids.
At 10 years old, Monica went to New York City with her mother and saw an exhibit where architects built larger than life sculptures out of cans of food. She immediately fell in love with the concept and suggested bringing the project back home to New Jersey as a way to help fight hunger. With the help of her mother, family members and her school, the CANsculpture project was born.
The first CANsculpture was a giant Etch-a-Sketch with Monica’s school’s initials spelled out. As a result of the first the sculpture, approximately 2,000 pounds of food were collected and donated to the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean County.
The next year, with the help of her art teacher, a “Cans for Pride” sculpture was created featuring her school’s mascot, a lion which was sculpted out of more than 1,000 pounds of food. Over the next two years, Monica spearheaded the “Kraken Down on Hunger” project, which featured a character from “Pirates of the Caribbean”; and “Our AmeriCAN Spirit” food drives. Together these programs raised 5,000 pounds of food.
In just four years, Monica collected 8,000 pounds of food for her local food bank with the help of community and school. In 2008, she was honored by ShopRite and General Mills for her hunger fighting efforts. Monica was among four children who were selected to grace the front of a limited-edition Cheerios box.
Monica hopes to continue the CANsculpture project through her high school years and beyond and she encourages other schools to pick up on the idea and build their own hunger-fighting sculptures.
Share Your Story
Did you know more than 36 million Americans; including 13 million children, wake up each day worried about where their next meal will come from? The ShopRite Partners In Caring Web site is place where we have started to put a face to the facts by sharing the stories of the hungry and those that help them in their struggle.
Each month, ShopRite Partners In Caring will post several new tales of courage, perseverance and optimism to share with our readers. We also encourage others to share their own stories of hope by clicking here or anywhere else on the Web site that you see “submit your stories.” By revealing your story, ShopRite Partners In Caring believes together we will create a place that will rouse the human spirit and motivate others to make a difference.
ShopRite Partners In Caring hopes by archiving these life-changing accounts, we will inspire and create hope in millions of Americans, not only in the ShopRite serving areas, but in communities across the country.
