Giant Co. Doles Out Community Improvement Grants
The Giant Co. and its partner Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful have awarded $300,000 in funding to support local projects that address food waste prevention, reduction and recovery across the grocer’s footprint. The Healing the Planet grants range from $2,500 to $20,000, and organizations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia were eligible to receive one.
The grants were funded by customers at Giant and its banner stores who rounded up their grocery purchase to the nearest dollar from March through May.
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“As a grocer, we understand the choices we make and the steps we take to divert food waste from landfills are crucial in helping to heal our planet,” said Jessica Groves, community impact manager for Giant Co. “What we are doing to reduce food waste now, whether it’s the projects of our 23 Healing the Planet grant awardees, or through our daily operations, will create a more sustainable tomorrow for us all.”
Among the recipients is Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., which received a $20,000 grant to complete an anaerobic digester project that will help convert community food waste and dairy manure into biogas and grid-tied electricity. Other funded projects include those that focus on community composting, increased access to compost for agricultural producers, educational programs related to food waste prevention, reduction and recovery, and diversion of food waste from landfills. Winners include Child Hunger Outreach Partners, Penbrook Lions and Leo Clubs, Quiet Creek Herb Farm & School of Country Living, and many others.
“Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is proud to support the many organizations, schools and cities who are using and creating inventive ways to assure food waste is being prevented, reduced and recovered,” said Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “Not only do these types of projects save natural resources and reduce the amount of material that enters the waste stream, in some cases, they will also provide food security to those in need.”
Continued Reither: “We are honored to continue our partnership with The Giant Co. to provide opportunities to make a difference in the efficiencies of food waste within Pennsylvania communities. We also want to thank all of you who ‘rounded up’ at the register. Your generosity will directly impact your local community.”
Since 2021, the Healing the Planet grant program has awarded more than $1.3 million to 110 recipients.
With more than 35,000 associates supporting more than 190 stores, 130-plus pharmacies, 107 fuel stations, and 180-plus online pickup hubs and a grocery delivery service in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and New Jersey, Carlisle, Pa.-based The Giant Co. encompasses the following banners: Giant, Martin’s, Giant Heirloom Market, Giant Direct and Martin’s Direct. Parent company Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century and its 10 Most Sustainable Grocers.
