ELIZABETHTOWN, KY – Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland (FAKH) announced today a grant from Walmart and Feeding America®, part of a continuing, multi-year partnership to strengthen food donation efforts between food banks, partner agencies and local retailers.
Funded by Walmart and awarded to 13 food banks in the Feeding America network of local food banks, the Retail Agency Capacity Grant equips food banks’ partner agencies – food pantries, meal programs – with equipment, vehicles and staff to support “food rescue” efforts, in which grocers donate fresh, frozen and shelf-stable foods to food banks and agency partners.
FAKH will apply the grant funds to projects that enable the food bank and its 200+ agency partners to collect and distribute more food from retail partners. These projects range from cold storage units to support FAKH’s new Bowling Green Distribution Center.
FAKH’s service area covers 42 counties in central and west Kentucky- and the need is great. The latest Map The Meal Gap report indicated one in six individuals – or more than 188,000- face food insecurity in that region.
“There are more people facing hunger than before- so this could not have come at a better time,” said Charles Dennis, Executive Director of FAKH. “Partnerships with retail partners such as Walmart/Sam’s Club allows us to better fill the gap to ensure no one goes hungry in Kentucky’s Heartland.”
With these grants, Walmart has donated a total of $15.75 million to 33 food banks and hundreds of partner agencies to increase their capacity to recover and distribute fresh food. These investments have led to substantial increases in the number of weekly donated food pickups through new equipment like refrigerated vans, added staff and new technology and training.
“Increasing access to food is key to Walmart’s purpose to help people to live better, and we’ve been working with Feeding America for the past 20 years to help local food banks and agencies recover and distribute more food donations,” said Julie Gehrki, Senior Vice President at Walmart and President of the Walmart Foundation. “We’re honored to build on this work through our support of Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland. We look forward to collaborating to get more fresh food to people who need it.”
This year’s grant announcement continues a celebration of 20 years of partnership between Walmart, Sam’s Club and Feeding America that’s grown into one of the most transformative collaborations in the hunger relief space – with approximately $271 million in donations – including more than $177 million from the company and the Walmart Foundation and nearly $95 million from customers and members. Walmart and Sam’s Club have also donated more than 9 billion pounds of food to the Feeding America network of local food banks and partner agencies since 2006, making them Feeding America’s largest corporate donor.
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About Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland
Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland gathers and distributes food in 42 Kentucky counties to feed our neighbors through local community partnerships. Since our establishment in 1982, we have distributed more than 356 million pounds of food and grocery items throughout central, south central, and western Kentucky – which equates to approximately 297 million meals. Our vision is to provide equitable access to nutritious food, so no one will go hungry and FAKH strives every day to make that vision a reality. For more information, visit www.feedingamericaky.org or find us on Facebook.
About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. The Walmart.org team works to tackle key social and environmental issues relevant for the retail sector in collaboration with others to spark long-lasting systemic change and help people live better in the communities we serve. To learn more, visit www.walmart.org.
About Feeding America
Feeding America is committed to an America where no one is hungry. We support tens of millions of people who experience food insecurity to get the food and resources they say they need to thrive as part of a nationwide network of food banks, statewide food bank associations, food pantries and meal programs. We also invest in innovative solutions to increase equitable access to nutritious food, advocate for legislation that improves food security and work to address factors that impact food security, such as health, cost of living and employment. We partner with people experiencing food insecurity, policymakers, organizations, and supporters, united with them in a movement to end hunger. Visit FeedingAmerica.org to learn more.