Food Lion Associates Volunteer to Give 1,200 Service Hours and 1 Million Meals to Feed the Hungry

SALISBURY, N.C., Sept. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Feeding America's® Hunger Action Month™, Food Lion Feeds will donate more than 1,200 service hours and more than 1 million meals through its inaugural "The Great Pantry Makeover" event. During the month-long volunteer service event, hundreds of Food Lion associates will volunteer at 38 local food pantries, which will help the grocer take another step toward its commitment of providing 500 million meals by the end of 2020. 

"Giving back to our communities is part of who we are as a company and something we are just as passionate about as serving our customers in our stores," said Meg Ham, Food Lion president. "Hunger Action Month provides a great opportunity for us to celebrate a month of service through 'The Great Pantry Makeover,' so our associates can spend time in our communities remodeling and restocking local food pantries to help them continue to provide food to people who are making tough choices because they're struggling with hunger."

"The Great Pantry Makeover" kicks off today, with service projects planned throughout the month.  Volunteers will paint and clean pantries, install shelving and other equipment donations such as refrigerators and freezers, and stock shelves with food donations. The list of pantries includes:

• Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services, Inc., in Laurel, Md.
• Rowan Helping Ministries, Salisbury, N.C.
• OCA Food Pantry in Hagerstown, Md.
• Keep the Change in Woodstock, Va.
• Meyersdale Church of the Brethren in Meyersdale, Pa.
• Victory International Ministries in Roanoke, Va.
• Glasgow 1^st Church of Nazarene in Glasgow, Ky.
• New Testament Church of God in Fayetteville, N.C.
• North Bartow Community Service in Adairsville, Ga.
• Hilton Head Island Deepwell in Hilton Head, S.C.
• First Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Bluffton, S.C.
• Holy Family Catholic Church in Hilton Head, S.C.
• Bluffton Community Center in Bluffton, S.C.
• Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School in Hardeeville, S.C.
• Port Royal in Port Royal, S.C.
• Agape Family Life Center in Hardeeville, S.C.
• St. Paul Church of Murfreesboro Food Pantry, Murfreesboro, N.C.
• Richardson Park Community Action Program, Inc., in Wilmington, Del.
• Stafford Hope Center in Fredericksburg, Va.
• Feeding Avery Families, Inc., in Banner Elk, N.C.
• The Salvation Army in Savannah, Ga.
• Food Bank of Greenwood County in Greenwood, S.C.
• East Lincoln Christian Ministry, Inc., in Denver, N.C.
• Second Harvest of South Georgia in Americas, Ga.
• Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission in Martinsburg, W.Va.
• Central Terrace United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C.
• Jubilee Project in Sneedville, Tenn.
• St. Matthias Episcopal Church Food Pantry in Midlothian, Va.
• Lee University's Leonard Center in Cleveland, Tenn.
• First Baptist Church Morrison in Newport News, Va.
• Community Food Connections of Blount County in Maryville, Tenn.
• Durham Technical Community College's Family Pantry in Durham, N.C.
• Midland Baptist Church in Bell Buckle, Tenn.
• Waynesboro Community and Human Services in Waynesboro, Pa.
• New Beginning Christian Center Church in Norfolk, Va.
• Harvest Hope Food Bank of Cayce Emergency Food Pantry in Cayce, S.C.
• Blue Angels Outreach, Inc., in Vass, N.C.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte, N.C.

"By donating 500 million meals by the end of 2020, Food Lion is proud to be a part of solving hunger in our local communities," added Ham. "We look forward to launching 'The Great Pantry Makeover' so no one has to choose between dinner and rent or medicine and buying groceries."

Hunger Action Month, held annually in September, is a nationwide campaign to mobilize action on the issue of hunger. Founded by Feeding America, the awareness effort brings greater attention to the issue of hunger in America and promotes ways for individuals everywhere to get involved with the movement to solve it.

Follow the month's activities on Twitter @FoodLionNews, #FoodLionFeeds or on Food Lion's Lion's Tale blog. More information about Food Lion Feeds is available at www.foodlion.com/feeds.

About Food Lion
Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has committed to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020. Food Lion is a company of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG). For more information, visit www.foodlion.com.

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