This arrived from Hannaford, a Maine grocery store chain: As the scope and impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, Hannaford remains focused on providing you and our communities with the food, medicine, and other essentials your family needs. We are closely monitoring the situation and reacting quickly to changing circumstances.

Our whole community is facing unprecedented challenges. To help, Hannaford is pledging $250,000 in donations to support local food banks. This will support them in fulfilling their crucial role of providing food to those at risk of going hungry. We also have implemented a program that makes it easy for you to donate toward hunger relief, right at your local store.

As we have all seen, a surge in demand for goods has challenged food retailers and caused low inventory and out-of-stock conditions in our stores. We know this is frustrating. However, please be confident that our supply chain is healthy and resilient. We are identifying new sources for high-demand items. Hannaford is bringing product into our distribution centers every day and getting it out to stores as quickly as possible.

At stores, we are simplifying how we do things so that our associates can focus on refilling shelves with that product and serving our customers' most-important needs. To help us, we hope you will shop only for what you truly need. This will help ensure others have access to those products too.

I want to emphasize that the health and safety of our associates, customers and communities is job one for us, and we are following the guidance of public health officials closely. Among the actions we are taking on your behalf and to support health in the community, we are:

• Shortening our daily hours of operation to provide time for additional cleaning and to restock shelves. Effective Saturday, March 21, most stores will now be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with a few closing at 8 p.m. on certain days.
  
  
• Adding a dedicated time when customers who are 60 or over and individuals identified as being identified by the CDC as at high risk may shop, providing them with the opportunity to have more social distance while in the store. These special hours for our 60+ customers are 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week. We are asking our local communities to help us ensure the integrity of this measure. Our goal in this effort is to limit occupancy in the stores during this time.
  
  

Additionally, Hannaford home office associates are working from home to help slow the spread of COVID-19. In our stores, our associates have comprehensive cleaning and hygiene practices in place to ensure our stores remain safe spaces to work and visit.

One final thought: consider thanking our store associates as they assist you with your in-store experience. Without them, Hannaford would not be able to provide the services you depend on. They are the everyday heroes who make it possible for you to keep yourself and your family nourished during this time of uncertainty. My entire leadership team and I are incredibly proud of the efforts our associates are making.

Together, we will continue to navigate the challenges that COVID-19 presents and come through this time stronger than ever.