Priceline Invades Costco, Fills Trucks, Replenishes Food Bank

Written by Leslie Yager

Hundreds of Priceline and KAYAK employees participated in a massive food drive effort on Monday to purchase food from Costco and move it to the Connecticut Food Bank in Stamford. 

This was Priceline's 9th year running the food drive, and staffers were able to walk from their offices to Costco for the mega shopping trip. 

By 10:30a.m. over $42,000 had been donated by employees, according to Jill Saverine, VP of Human Resources at Priceline, who was overseeing one of the three checkout lines dedicated to Priceline's overflowing trolleys. Saverine explained that $30,000 would be spent at Costco on behalf of the Food Bank and that The Open Door Emergency Shelter in Norwalk would receive the balance of the funds. 

Staffers could donate money and had their choice of shopping, loading the truck, or unloading the truck at the Food Bank at 461 Glenbrook Rd in Stamford.  The food was paid for by donations from employees that were matched by priceline.com.

"What you won't see this year in the carts is turkeys because they put the turkeys on a big pallet and put them on the truck. Priceline is donating 400 turkeys and Costco was kind enough to donate an additional 70 turkeys," said Saverine.

The project started last Friday, when Priceline employees visited the Food Bank to help them make room for all the food that would soon arrive.  

On Monday by 10:45, food filled dozens and dozens of carts to overflowing. 

Buddy Altus, of Avis (part of Budget) who coordinated the donated trucks used to deliver the food from Costco to the Food Bank, joined the Priceline staffers at the event. Altus, who made the trip up from Parsippany, New Jersey had a chance to chat with Eric Goldberg, Director, Rental Cars IT, as both their carts brimmed with boxed cereals and crackers.

According to Susan Smith who does a reverse commute from New York City to Priceline in Norwalk, a few years back, the Priceline volunteers didn't wear their coordinated blue logo t-shirts for the trip to Costco. "This is better," said Smith. "Originally people thought we were just crazy people shopping for the Apocalypse."

Priceline is headquartered at 800 Connecticut Ave. in Norwalk.

Costco is located in Norwalk at 779 Connecticut Ave.