Food Lion Helps Hungry With Gala Apples Program

Food Lion and its customers have helped provide 1.5 million meals to needy families across the grocer's 10-state market area through the sale of specially marked Food Lion Feeds bagged apples. The effort, which launched on Sept. 17, helped provide five meals to area Feeding America-affiliated food banks each time a customer bought the Gala apples.

As well as the approximately 1.1 million meals provided in partnership with customers, Food Lion made an additional $50,000 donation -- equaling 450,000 meals -- to Feeding America. Additionally, Washington-based Yakima Fresh/Robinson Fresh backed the effort with a $25,000 donation to the Chicago-based anti-hunger organization, giving the equivalent of 225,000 meals to hungry families.

An earlier Food Lion Feeds in-store campaign this year involved the sale of reusable bags; as a result the company and its customers provided the equivalent of 1 million meals. Anti-hunger activities also loomed large during the grocer's first annual Week of Service in September. Next month, the grocer will offer Holidays Without Hunger food boxes, which customers will be able to buy for direct donation to a local feeding organization.

The in-store campaigns enable Food Lion to work toward its goal of providing 500 million meals to needy families in its local communities by the end of 2020.

A company of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group, 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.