Food Lion Donates Equivalent of $500K to Regional Food Banks

At the conclusion of Hunger Action Month in September, Food Lion announced that it is providing five million meals that equal $500,000 to food banks throughout its service area. The donations will be given to organizations partnering with Feeding America, which started Hunger Action Month as a major fundraising campaign to fight food insecurity.

Food Lion’s donations to food banks include gift cards that can be used by families to buy groceries of their choice. Benefiting nonprofits include hunger relief groups in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

“No one should have to choose between paying for dinner or rent, or gas or groceries, but far too many of our neighbors are faced with those impossible decisions every day,” said Meg Ham, president of Food Lion. “Our neighbors are counting on us. That’s why we continue to stand with our longstanding community partners to fight hunger and nourish neighbors in the towns and cities we serve.”

Food Lion estimates that it has donated the equivalent of 220 million meals to hunger relief efforts since the pandemic began in spring 2020. The company has a dedicated hunger-relief platform, Food Lion Feeds, which provides assistance through donations of products, monies and equipment, along with disaster relief, volunteer work, in-store campaigns and a company food rescue program.

Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 82,000 associates. Its parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize operating more than 2,000 stores across 23 states, is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.