Sam's Club and Martina McBride Team Up With Local Volunteers To Donate Meals To Phoenix St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance

WHAT:

Country music star Martina McBride joins forces with Phoenix Sam's Club associates to raise awareness of hunger in the U.S. and urge members participate in a Spring Hunger Event supporting the largest domestic hunger-relief charity, Feeding America, with the goal of securing one million meals this spring.  Martina McBride will team up with local Sam's Club volunteers to load pallets of food into trucks and deliver the donation to the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance.

WHY:

Hunger is an issue year-round and can be especially critical in the spring as post-holiday volunteer efforts and supplies typically diminish. While many believe that those affected by hunger are confined to small pockets of society, in reality, one in six Americans is struggling with hunger.

WHO:

Martina McBride

Sam's Club associates, member volunteers and food bank representatives

WHEN:

Saturday, Mar. 24, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Media call time: 12:00 p.m. at the St. Mary's Food Bank*

WHERE:

St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance

Del E. Webb Center

2831 N. 31st Ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85009

606.242.3663

Sam's Club – Phoenix #6608

1525 West Bell Rd

Phoenix, AZ 85023

602.439.9852

* Media are invited to schedule interviews with Martina McBride, Sam's Club, Feeding America and food bank representatives at the St. Mary's Food Bank beginning at 12:15 p.m. Please contact Matthew Molino to arrange an interview.

HOW TO DONATE:

Sam's Club Members have two ways to participate in reaching the goal of helping Feeding America secure one million meals for local food banks from March 14 to 28 including: 

1. By purchasing specially marked General Mills items at Sam's Club, members can help Feeding America secure TEN MEALS for local food banks once members visit www.outnumberhunger.com/samsclub and enter the code located on the packaging by March 1, 2013.  For every code entered by March 1, 2013, General Mills will donate $1.30 to Feeding America – enough to secure 10 meals on behalf of local food banks up to a maximum donation of $130,000.
2. Members can also place non-perishable food in collection bins at Sam's Club locations nationwide.

ABOUT SAM'S CLUB:

Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is the nation's eighth largest retailer and a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products and services to more than 47 million Members in clubs across the U.S., as well as in Brazil, China and Mexico. Members save an average of 34 percent over traditional retailers. To learn more about Savings Made Simple®, visit SamsClub.com and look for Sam's Club on Twitter, Facebook and our mobile app.

Sam's Club supports community-based programs that empower young people, families and small businesses to make smart choices that lead to healthy and bright futures. In 2010, the Sam's Club Giving Program made cash and in-kind contributions of more than $89 million, which included donating more than 39 million meals.

ABOUT FEEDING AMERICA:

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

ABOUT MARTINA MCBRIDE:

One of the most spectacular voices in any genre of music, Martina McBride is a four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and GRAMMY® winning recording artist with more than 18 million in album sales and six #1s. Three-time ACM Female Vocalist of the Year was most recently nominated again in the category for the 2012 awards.

Martina's first album on Republic Nashville, ELEVEN, includes 11 new tracks, six of which she co-penned. Her current single, "Marry Me," features Train's Pat Monahan and is the follow-up to her 25th career Top 10 single, "I'm Gonna Love You Through It." In celebration of the new album, Martina launched "ELEVEN Across America Powered by Amtrak," a four-day train ride with 11 stops across the nation. Martina is the "most played female artist on country radio for the past 11 years," according to both Mediabase and Broadcast Data Systems (BDS).  

The breadth of her talents – as recording artist, producer, songwriter, and concert entertainer – has made her an in-demand performer and personality. Among her hits are such empowering songs as "Independence Day," "This One's for the Girls," and "A Broken Wing," all of which have underscored her incredible popularity as one of music's preeminent female vocalists. She has appeared on such high-profile programs as VH1 Divas, Dancing with the Stars, TODAY Show's "TODAY Throws a Wedding," Good Morning America, American Idol, Oprah, The Bachelorette, Private Sessions, Opry Goes Pink!, a 20/20 special and much more. Celebrated for her beauty and sense of fashion, as well as her everywoman perspective in life and music, Martina is a wife and mother of three girls who has been featured on the covers of publications like Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, People Magazine, Country Weekly and Shape.