The FINANCIAL — Walmart and the Walmart Foundation today announced donations totaling $470,000 in two separate grants to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to aid in the food bank’s efforts to feed hungry children, seniors and families in Tennessee.
A $120,000 donation from the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program will help feed more than 10,000 hungry Tennesseans by funding the expansion of Second Harvest’s Mobile Pantry distributions to include 40 Mobile Pantry deliveries throughout rural communities in Middle and West Tennessee. The Walmart-Second Harvest Mobile Pantry partnership kicks off today with a Mobile Pantry event at Greenhouse Ministries, located on South Spring Street in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Volunteer Walmart associates will work side by side with staff from Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and Greenhouse Ministries to distribute staple pantry items, fresh produce and personal care items to clients of Greenhouse Ministries.
Walmart has also awarded $350,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee through its “Golden Spark” promotion. As Walmart said, the Golden Spark campaign gave consumers a chance to win “sparks” to help fund childhood hunger programs as part of Walmart’s Fighting Hunger Together initiative. Winners of each spark chose a community to receive the funding for starting or expanding a backpack program that provides vital meals to food-insecure children during the weekends when they do not have access to free- and reduced-price school meals. Seven Golden Sparks winners in Tennessee designated their awards to support food backpack programs in Wilson, Putnam, Smith and Rutherford counties.
“Addressing hunger issues and working with our communities to fight hunger is something Walmart is committed to every day,” said Walmart Market Manager Wade Hunt. “Our partnership not only helps feed hungry Tennesseans, but it also allows our employees to be engaged in our efforts to make our community stronger.”
The Mobile Pantry delivers food directly to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee partner agencies in Middle and West Tennessee for one-day, large-scale food distributions. Each Mobile Pantry, on average, feeds 200-250 families and supplies around 15,000 pounds of food per day. This program is one of the most effective ways for Second Harvest to provide food assistance to rural communities and is available to all 46 counties in Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee’s service area.
The Second Harvest BackPack Program helps feed more than 8,000 food-insecure children throughout its service area by providing a pack of nutritious and easy-to-prepare food for children in need to take home on weekends and school vacations.
“As demand for our services continues to increase, we need everyone’s help to solve the issue of hunger,” said Jaynee Day, president and chief executive officer of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. “Walmart is a valued partner to us, and their continued support will put us in a position to feed more people more often.”
It is Walmart’s passion to help people live better in Tennessee and across the globe. In 2012, Tennessee-based charities received $1,132,200 from State Giving Program grants issued by the Walmart Foundation, including local nonprofits such as Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.
Discussion about this post