Advocates of Hunger Relief Cast More Than 443,000 Votes and Direct $3 Million in Grants for Food Banks and Partner Agencies Nationwide
Walmart and Feeding America distribute funds for local hunger-relief organizations as a part of Walmart's Fighting Hunger Together initiative
BENTONVILLE, Ark., May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- From April 1 to April 30, more than 443,000 votes were cast for the more than 300 eligible Feeding America food banks and partner agencies as part of a campaign to fight hunger in local communities. Customers were invited to cast votes at www.walmart.com/hunger for the eligible organization of their choosing and as a result, 100 food banks and partner feeding agencies were selected as grant winners. The funds will be distributed by Feeding America, the nation's leading hunger relief organization, stemming from a $3 million grant provided by Walmart this spring. These grants will help support a number of programs, including local backpack programs that provide vital meals to children when they are out of school and community gardens that teach families how to grow their own healthy foods.
The winners of the April Fighting Hunger Together initiative include:
40 Feeding America member food banks will receive $1.8 million in grants ($45k each):
| Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee (Gray, TN) |
Regional East Texas Food Bank (Tyler, TX) |
El Pasoans Fighting Hunger (El Paso, TX) |
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee (Maryville, TN) |
| Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties (San Jose, CA) |
Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin (Madison, WI) |
Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County (Sharon, PA) |
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC (Winston-Salem, NC) |
| Feeding South Dakota (Sioux Falls, SD) |
Tarrant Area Food Bank (Fort Worth, TX) |
FOOD Inc DBA Community Food Bank (Fresno, CA) |
Food Bank of Northern Nevada (McCarran, NV) |
| Golden Harvest Food Bank, Inc. (Augusta, GA) |
Channel One, Inc. (Rochester, MN) |
Roadrunner Food Bank, Inc. (Albuquerque, NM) |
St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance (Phoenix, AZ) |
| Chattanooga Area Food Bank (Chattanooga, TN) |
Cleveland Foodbank, Inc. (Cleveland, OH) |
St. Louis Area Food Bank Inc. (Bridgeton, MO) |
Food Bank of Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi, TX) |
| FOOD Share (Oxnard, CA) |
Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (Raleigh, NC) |
Utah FoodBank (Salt Lake City, UT) |
Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin & Stanislaus Counties (Manteca, CA) |
| Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Inc. (Orlando, FL) |
God's Pantry Food Bank (Lexington, KY) |
Harvesters - The Community Food Network (Kansas City, MO) |
Foodbank of Santa Barbara County (Santa Barbara, CA) |
| Kansas Food Bank Warehouse, Inc (Wichita, KS) |
Greater Berks Food Bank (Reading, PA) |
Weld Food Bank (Greeley, CO) |
Mid-Ohio Foodbank (Grove City, OH) |
| Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida (Fort Myers, FL) |
Northern Illinois Food Bank (Geneva, IL) |
West Ohio Food Bank (Lima, OH) |
The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, Inc. (Columbia, MO) |
| Food Bank of the Albemarle (Elizabeth City, NC) |
Vermont Foodbank (Barre, VT) |
Harvest Texarkana Regional Food Bank, Inc (Texarkana, AR) |
Food Bank of the Southern Tier (Elmira, NY) |
60 partner feeding agencies will receive $1.2 million in grants ($20k each):
| Steven A Hunter Hope Fund, Inc. (Portsmouth, OH) |
Twigs - The Family Treehouse (Granite City, IL) |
Hyland Heights Baptist Church, Inc. (Rustburg, VA) |
Metro World Child (Brooklyn, NY) |
|
Ringgold United Methodist Church D/B/A Nourishing Children in Catoosa (Ringgold, GA) |
First United Methodist Church of Chatsworth (Chatsworth, GA) |
Victory Dream Center (Carbondale, IL) |
StoreHouse Ministries (Wartburg, TN) |
| Emmaus Mission Center, Inc. (Logansport, IN) |
S.O.S. Backpack Ministry (Hendersonville, TN) |
Loaves and Fishes of Northwest Oklahoma (Enid, OK) |
FOCUS North America (Pittsburgh, PA) |
|
Hope Distributed Community Development Corporation (Harrisonburg, VA) |
New Covenant Community Church (Audubon, NJ) |
The Cross Matthew's Market (Rochester, IN) |
The Salvation Army (El Cajon, CA) |
| Signal Crest United Methodist Church (Signal Mountain, TN) |
Westerville Area Resource Ministry (Westerville, OH) |
Brighton Center, Inc. (Newport, KY) |
Evangelical Covenant Church (Lafayette, IN) |
| Weakley County Backpack Program (Dresden, TN) |
Youth Services of Tulsa, Inc. (Tulsa, OK) |
Grundy County Food Bank (Tracy City, TN) |
Kids of the Community (McMinnville, TN) |
| Hunt County Shared Ministries (Greenville, TX) |
Georgetown-Chunchula United Methodist Church (Chunchula, AL) |
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeastern Pennsylvania (Scranton, PA) |
Owsley County Outreach Corporation (Booneville, KY) |
|
The Open Door/Cape Ann Food Pantry, Inc. (DBA:The Open Door) (Gloucester, MA) |
Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio (Worthington, OH) |
Community Cupboard (Belvidere, IL) |
Hands of Hope Outreach/Victory Life Food Bank (Durant, OK) |
| Family Assistance Ministries (San Clemente, CA) |
Metrocrest Social Services (Farmers Branch, TX) |
Appalachian Outreach (Jefferson City, TN) |
Jewish Family Service of San Diego (San Diego, CA) |
| New Hope Ministries (Dillsburg, PA) |
Helping Our People in Elsinore, Inc. (Lake Elsinor, CA) |
Seed for His Harvest Ministries (El Paso, TX) |
Hope Center for Kids (Omaha, NE) |
| Kingdom Kids of Tampa Bay, Inc (Temple Terrace, FL) |
Ronald McDonald House Charities San Diego (San Diego, CA) |
Food for Thought, Inc. (Manteo, NC) |
Feeding Our Communities Partners (Mankato, MN) |
| TNKids Nutrition, Inc. (Springfield, TN) |
Loving Hearts Outreach (Washington, MO) |
The Golden Backpack Program (Golden, CO) |
Fern Creek Elementary School Foundation Inc. (Orlando, FL) |
| Metropolitan Family Service (Portland, OR) |
Madisonville Education and Assistance Center, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH) |
Edenton-Chowan Food Pantry (Edenton, NC) |
First United Methodist Food Pantry (Ashland, KY) |
| Haven From Hunger (Peabody, MA) |
Broad Street Presbyterian Church Food Pantry (Columbus, OH) |
About Our Kids, Inc. (Lamar, MO) |
Food For Thought – Denver (Arvada, CO) |
| Missoula Food Bank (Missoula, MT) |
Inter Parish Ministry (Cincinnati, OH) |
Christ's Food Center, Inc. (Hodgen, OK) |
Dover First Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Dover, DE) |
Joining Walmart in the fight against hunger this spring were 10 of the most recognizable food companies in the U.S. — including Campbell's Soup, ConAgra Foods, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, General Mills, Kraft Foods Group, Kellogg Company, Mondelez International, Nestle USA, PepsiCo and Unilever.
"We hope that the organizations benefitting from these funds will be able to continue and expand the positive work they are doing in local communities," said Julie Gehrki, senior director of the Walmart Foundation. "We want to thank all those who participated in this campaign for their commitment to hunger relief, and we hope that the impact of the grant dollars we award will combine with new volunteers and greater public awareness of this issue to make a lasting impact in communities throughout the country."
With the help of ConAgra Foods, General Mills and Kellogg Company, Walmart was able to generate an additional 136,000 meals for Feeding America food banks through local market food drive events. Joining the General Mills event in Atlanta was country music artist Thomas Rhett, and in Nashville Emmy Award-winning analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit, partnered with Walmart and Kellogg.
The Fighting Hunger Together initiative is part of Walmart's and the Walmart Foundation's $2 billion commitment through 2015 to fight hunger. As a part of this commitment, Walmart and its Foundation pledged to donate more than 1.1 billion pounds of food from Walmart stores, distribution centers and Sam's Club locations, valued at $1.75 billion, as well as $250 million in grants to support hunger relief organizations. To participate or to learn more about our commitment, visit www.walmart.com/hunger.
About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committed to helping people live better through philanthropic efforts. By operating globally and giving back locally, Walmart is uniquely positioned to address the needs of the communities it serves and make a significant social impact within its core areas of giving: Hunger Relief and Nutrition, Sustainability, Career Opportunity and Women's Economic Empowerment. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are leading the fight against hunger in the United States with a $2 billion commitment through 2015. Walmart has donated more than one billion meals to those in need across the country. To learn more about Walmart's giving, visit foundation.walmart.com.
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
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