To end hunger for one in eight neighbors and one in six food-insecure children, Food Lion announced its bold new plans for its hunger-relief initiative, Food Lion Feeds. To fight hunger in its operating area, Food Lion Feeds will expand its long-term partnership with Feeding America, create new partnerships to address hunger, and is committing to donate 1 billion more meals by the end of 2025 to its neighbors in need. Food Lion Feeds reached its previous goal of donating 500 million meals in May, nearly 18 months early.
“At Food Lion, we believe that no one should have to choose between dinner and rent or gasoline and buying groceries, and we know far too many of our neighbors are faced with those difficult decisions,” said Meg Ham, president of Food Lion. “Children in our classrooms, servicemembers who give so much to serve our nation, and seniors on fixed incomes in our towns and cities are struggling with hunger. Hunger knows no bounds. So, Food Lion is committed to nourishing our neighbors and setting them up for success in life and we couldn’t be more proud to take on this incredibly important mission in an even bigger, more impactful way.”
To achieve its goal, Food Lion Feeds announced new partnerships with No Kid Hungry, a campaign to end child hunger in the U.S., and Operation Homefront, to fight food-insecurity among our nation’s servicemembers and their families. Additionally, Food Lion Feeds will continue to grow its longstanding partnership with Feeding America, and the 30 Feeding America member food banks across Food Lion’s 10-state service territory, through a combination of product, financial and equipment donations; disaster relief and recovery efforts; volunteer events; in-store retail campaigns; Food Lion Feeds’ retail food rescue program to donate food before it perishes; and other sources. Food Lion Feeds is also introducing new opportunities to involve its customers in the fight against hunger, through the launch of a new resource to encourage volunteerism in the towns and cities Food Lion serves.
Additionally, to coincide with Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month in September, Food Lion Feeds is launching the “#NoEmptyPlate” social media challenge, and will donate one meal for every post on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram customers make featuring an empty plate using #FoodLionFeeds and #NoEmptyPlate, up to 1 million meals. All meals donated through the #NoEmptyPlate challenge will benefit Feeding America and their member food banks in Food Lion’s service area.
“These partnerships will enable us to have an even deeper impact in our communities while addressing some of the root causes of food insecurity,” said Ham. “We want to shorten the lines at our feeding agency partners, while at the same time meeting the needs of those in need of emergency food assistance, just as we have always done. Through these partnerships, and with the support of our customers and associates, we are committed to fighting hunger in the towns and cities we serve.”
