To help fight hunger in the local communities it serves, GIANT Food Store in Kutztown presented to Friend, Inc. Food Pantry in Kutztown with $5,000 in gift cards.
GIANT Food Stores and MARTIN’S Food Markets kicked off their signature hunger-relief campaign “Bag Hunger” with a GIANT One-Day Give in partnership with 31 food banks across Pennsylvania and Maryland on Feb. 24. A total of $155,000 in gift cards was donated by GIANT/MARTIN’S to help organizations provide healthy meals for those in need.
“During this time of the year when donations aren’t as robust, we wanted to make sure that our food bank partners could immediately restock their shelves with the basics,” said GIANT/MARTIN’S President Tom Lenkevich. “This GIANT One-Day Give kicks off our Bag Hunger in-store donation campaign, where our customers and associates donate so generously to help our neighbors in need.”
From Feb. 26 through March 11, customers can donate to their local food bank at any GIANT/MARTIN’S checkout through the grocers’ annual Bag Hunger in-store campaign. During last fall’s Bag Hunger campaign, $550,888 was raised to support local and regional food banks in four states.
According to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, $1 is enough to provide 6 meals to people who depend on their services. Today’s total donation will enable recipient organizations to provide more than 930,000 healthy and nutritious meals. GIANT/MARTIN’S also hopes to raise awareness that following the holiday season, food donations are generally lower and pantry shelves are at risk of being empty.
As part of its ongoing better neighbor efforts, GIANT/MARTIN’S is committed to supporting the communities that it serves and especially the fight against hunger. In 2016, GIANT/MARTIN’S donated more than $12 million to approximately 100 hunger relief agencies through customer, vendor and corporate support. Part of that effort included its signature Meat the Needs program which delivered more than one million pounds of safe, nutritious and much needed meat to regional food banks and pantries for families in need.
