Giving Tuesday Is Back and Grocers Are Responding
In a week of “days” – Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday – Giving Tuesday has become another holiday-season occasion, and grocers are getting into the spirit of donations this year.
Food Lion, for example, announced that it is donating 1 million meals through its Food Lion Feeds hunger relief initiative to the Feeding America organization. Through this program, the North Carolina retailer is supporting more than 30 member food banks across its service area.
“On behalf of our 82,000 associates, we’re proud to add our name and resources to the #GivingTuesday movement and help nourish more of our neighbors and set them up for success,” said Meg Ham, Food Lion’s president. “Supporting the towns and cities we serve is what we do, and we know more of our neighbors have become food insecure due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We want our community partners and neighbors to know they can always count on Food Lion when they need us.”
The United Supermarkets chain in Texas likewise is marking Giving Tuesday, which falls this year on Nov. 30, by donating $5,000 to nonprofit organization partners and launching a week-long register campaign at four stores. Proceeds from that campaign will benefit 67 community nonprofits.
“We are so proud to help support the Giving Tuesday movement in our community,” said Tony Crumpton, chief merchandising officer for The United Family. “The Community Foundation of West Texas has done an amazing thing by coordinating these efforts to support non-profit organizations in Lubbock. We are blessed to be a part of it.”
E-commerce companies are taking part in Giving Tuesday efforts, too. Instacart is offering customers the opportunity to donate a meal to a local or nonprofit organization of their choice when placing their own order, for no extra charge. Amazon emphasizes its AmazonSmile, a portal through which shoppers can generate donations for charity at no extra cost or donate items directly through AmazonSmile's list of charities.
Giving Tuesday, which is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, is a concept that began in 2012 in New York City and grew into a global movement inspiring millions of people to give to various charitable causes.
Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and is part of Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize that is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Self-distributing company, United operates 96 stores under five banners — United Supermarkets, Market Street, Amigos, Albertsons Market and United Express — and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, No. 8 on The PG 100. Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100, while its wholly owned subsidiary, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods, is No. 26.
