Shannon Karafian is the charitable giving and community relations specialist for Stop & Shop, serving as part of their community relations team for Long Island, New York City, and New Jersey.
Born and raised in Smithtown, she received her bachelor of arts in psychology and bachelor of science in human development from SUNY Binghamton University, then returned home.
Shannon began her career in hunger-relief work at Island Harvest Food Bank, based in Melville. Still in college at the time, she started out as an intern for one of the food bank’s childhood hunger programs, providing meals to children during the summer months when school was not in session.
This position gave her the opportunity to work with churches, schools, and other nonprofit organizations across Long Island, providing insight into the people and organizations actively working together to meet a great need across Long Island.
This program involved providing more than just food, but also nutrition education, meal preparation demonstrations, and connections to other services and partners.
Upon graduation, she was hired full-time to run the food bank’s volunteer program, engaging individuals, community and school groups, and corporate partners in hunger-relief efforts.
“My role had given me the opportunity to work alongside members of our community all working towards the same goal: to end hunger. Being surrounded by those kinds of people and experiencing the overwhelming support for our mission has furthered my belief in the limitless possibilities that come with community support.”
Not long after she began this role, the COVID-19 pandemic began, resulting in a rapid increase in the need for the organization’s services. She recruited and deployed thousands of volunteers, ran weekly food distributions with local school partners, and was instrumental in starting up a fully volunteer-supported home delivery program to address the increased need. This set the foundation for the food bank’s volunteer program today.
Now in her current role as part of the community relations team at Stop & Shop, she is supporting community giving campaigns, assisting in the regional execution of Stop and Shop’s School Pantry Program, and continuing to maintain strong relationships with regional food banks and nonprofit partners.
Stop & Shop actively works to fight hunger across all the cities and towns that they serve, and additionally support veterans and military families and help fight cancer. “I’ve seen the work that so many of these nonprofit organizations are doing, and I’ve seen the need in the community that they are responding to, and my position with Stop & Shop now gives me the opportunity to offer even more support and extend my reach beyond Long Island.”
She credits her support network for the path she has chosen to follow and the success she has had thus far.
“The support that I have received from family and friends is what has allowed me to get here. They have encouraged me to push myself. They have volunteered at events with me when I needed the extra support. And I have had many amazing coworkers along the way to learn from and help me get to where I am today.”