Food Lion Debuts 1st-ever Week of Service

As part of Food Lion's first annual Week of Service, hundreds of associates throughout the grocer’s 10-state footprint are volunteering to serve 400,000 meals to the needy in their local communities, helping the banner fulfill its pledge to provide 500 million meals by the end of 2020.

Noting that employees already "give back to their local communities every day by volunteering at their local food pantry, coaching local sports teams or volunteering in the classroom," Food Lion President Beth Newlands Campbell said, "Hunger Action Month [in September] provides a great opportunity for us as a company to celebrate a Week of Service, so that our associates can spend extra time caring for those in their communities who are making tough choices because they're struggling with hunger."

Volunteer Service

Food Lion Feeds Week of Service began on Sept. 15 with the chain's associates taking part in more than 20 organized volunteer events throughout the week. Among the volunteer service projects undertaken by the associates are painting, weeding and other maintenance activities at local food banks; serving lunch at soup kitchens; and distributing food via mobile pantries. The projects will continue through Sept. 19.

Additionally, Food Lion workers, joined by almost 300 employees from other local companies, as well as volunteers from the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, packed thousands of meals for needy area families at an annual Sort-a-Rama event held Sept. 11 in Raleigh, N.C.

Organized by Chicago-based Feeding America, Hunger Action Month is a national effort that aims to spur hunger relief activities, as well as raise awareness of the issue.

Campbell added that Food Lion would be "building upon [the Week of Service program] for years to come, so that no one has to choose between dinner and rent or medicine and buying groceries."

Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. Food Lion is a company of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group.