Columbia, Florence and Greenville Communities rally together to generate $77,640 for Harvest Hope Food Bank to fight hunger
September 16, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – Today Walmart announces that Columbia, Florence and Greenville residents helped generate a total of $77,640.45, for Harvest Hope Food Bank to support those facing hunger in the local community. Through Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign, families rallied together to help fight hunger through three simple actions taken in Walmart stores and online. Nationwide, the campaign raised more than $10 million to support Feeding America and its affiliate food banks across the country.
The Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign offered customers the opportunity to help fight hunger from April 6 to May 3, 2015 by making a donation to their local Feeding America food bank at a Walmart register, or purchasing select products from some of the nation’s leading food companies: Campbell’s, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft, and Unilever. In addition, the public participated in the #WeSparkChange social media challenge. Customers were asked to take a picture of six friends who share their commitment to fight hunger and post a public picture on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #WeSparkChange. For each post, Walmart donated $10 to Feeding America on behalf of its affiliate food banks.
Hunger is a nationwide problem with local implications in every community across the United States. One in six people in America will struggle with hunger at some point during the year, according to the USDA. Here in South Carolina, nearly 18% of the population is food insecure.
“We are so grateful to all the families who came out to participate in Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign, to help us secure critical meals for those in need in our community,” said Denise Holland, CEO of Harvest Hope Food Bank. “The results were amazing, and will go a long way to help us provide access to food for people who count on our support throughout the year.”
“We take pride in giving back to local communities and empowering residents to support their neighbors in need. This spring, customers across the country jumped into action to fight hunger, and the results were truly extraordinary,” said Karrie Dennison, Director of Hunger and Nutrition for Walmart and the Walmart Foundation.
“With 49 million Americans struggling with hunger today, we are dedicated to helping families access affordable, nutritious and sustainably grown food. With the support of our customers, associates and Feeding America, we will continue our work to help every family have access to the food they need.”
The Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign is just one step towards Walmart’s larger commitment to provide meals to those in need, helping ensure every family has access to affordable, nutritious and sustainably grown food. As the nation’s largest grocer, Walmart is in a unique leadership position to help impact the issue of hunger in the United States. Last year, Walmart announced a commitment to create a more sustainable food system, with a focus on improving the affordability of food by lowering the “true cost” of food for both customers and the environment, increasing access to food, making healthier eating easier, and improving the safety and transparency of the food chain. This commitment includes a goal of providing four billion meals to those in need in the U.S. over the next five years.
About Harvest Hope Food Bank
Harvest Hope began in 1981 as the result of a shared vision of business leaders and the faith community who set out to provide for the hungry in Columbia. Since then Harvest Hope has increased its mission to feed the hungry across 20 counties of South Carolina. In 2013, Harvest Hope distributed over 28 million pounds of food and fed approximately 38,000 people a week. To learn more about Harvest Hope Food Bank, visit http://www.harvesthope.org.
About Feeding America
Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more than 250 million customers and members visit our 11,462 stores under 71 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. With fiscal year 2015 sales of nearly $486 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
