AUBURN – Ocean State Job Lot delivered 36,505 pounds of food to Good Shepherd Food-Bank last month, to be distributed to food pantries in towns where the company has stores: Sanford, Oxford, Belfast and Bangor.

In what has become a tradition, Ocean State Job Lot invited customers at its 107 stores in seven states to donate $1 to help buy food for food banks in their service area. Through its Three Square Meals program, the retailer matched the first $100,000 of donations made by shoppers. The result was an annual food fund of more than $1.25 million.

Leveraging its significant buying power, Job Lot purchases and donates food valued at up to four times its retail cost. Job Lot also provides all purchasing logistics and delivery services free of charge, allowing 100 percent of donated money to be used for food purchases.

The retailer has supported hunger relief efforts in Maine for several years and has donated more than 230,000 pounds of food to Good Shepherd Food-Bank since 2009.