Winn-Dixie Gives to 100-plus Southeast Charities

The Winn-Dixie Foundation is investing almost $1.4 million in neighborhoods across its Southeast footprint through partnerships with 116 nonprofit organizations that offer a broad range of critical services.

“Winn-Dixie is at the heart of the neighborhoods we serve,” noted Mary Kellmanson, marketing group vice-president of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., and president of the foundation. “We are inspired by the stories we hear from past recipients …. Empowering these organizations through the Winn-Dixie Foundation with needed resources is one of many ways we invest in our communities.”

By providing grants to programs that feed the hungry, assist needy women and children, help the sick, and address inequalities in education and health, the Winn-Dixie Foundation aims to improve living conditions for its neighbors in five Southeast states. The foundation’s work depends on the business partners that support the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters, a PGA Tour Nationwide Tour event.

In 2010, the Winn-Dixie Foundation helped fund 83 locally based programs in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Over the last year, the foundation visited with grant recipients in neighborhoods across its operating area, an odyssey chronicled in a YouTube video.

Established in 1943, the nonprofit Winn-Dixie Foundation awards grants to organizations that support community programs and initiatives in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Winn-Dixie operates about 480 grocery stores in those states.