CARLISLE, PA – Apr. 15, 2003 – GIANT Food Stores was recently awarded the 2003 Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Community Service award at the Store-Specific Merchandising and Marketing Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. The first-ever national award was presented by VNU Business Media, editors of Progressive Grocer, to GIANT in recognition of its dedication to the community.

“We are thrilled that VNU Business Media has recognized GIANT Food Stores for its dedication to the communities in which it serves,” said Mick Shannon, president, CEO and co-founder of CMN. “Without the support of partners like GIANT, the care provided at children’s hospitals would not be available to communities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

GIANT Food Stores, as part of its We have a GIANT heart program, hosts a golf tournament for vendors and suppliers that raises an impressive $1 million each year for CMN. GIANT also holds the fundraising record in the grocery industry for the annual Children’s Miracle Network $1 balloon voucher sales to customers with over 190,000 sold in 2002.

Dennis Hopkins, GIANT’s vice president of advertising and sales development, received the 2003 Children’s Miracle Network Community Service award from Olivia Wilson, associate publisher of Progressive Grocer, one of 56 market-leading trade magazines published by VNU Business Media and Clark Sweat, vice president retail and packaged goods development, CMN.

“We are honored and proud to be the first recipients of the Children’s Miracle Network Community Service award,” said Hopkins. “At GIANT, giving back to the community is very important, and we thank our customers, associates and vendors for their support in helping us achieve overwhelming success in support of CMN.”

Based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, GIANT Food Stores, LLC employs more than 19,000 associates and currently operates 113 stores in four states. The chain operates under the name GIANT Food Stores throughout Pennsylvania and under the name MARTIN’S Food Markets in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

GIANT Food Stores, LLC was founded in 1923 and is one of the oldest employers in central Pennsylvania. GIANT has a proud tradition of giving back to the communities in which it operates. In 2002 the organization donated more than $10,400,000 to charities involved in fighting hunger, children’s hospitals and numerous community programs.