Community Support Needed For Local Food Banks

COLUMBIA, SC — Local food banks, including Harvest Hope Food Bank, are preparing for the upcoming school year and the fight against childhood hunger. BI-LO has launched the Summer Backpack Hunger Relief Program in all stores to help the one out of five children in South Carolina who don’t know from where their next meal will come. Customers are encouraged to donate at any store register July 16 through August 19 to help provide meals for healthy minds and bodies to thrive in the classroom. Every dollar donated will go directly to regional food banks to help fill backpacks with nutritious, fresh foods. Give a dollar. Help fill a backpack.

“As a community food provider, no issue touches the heart of our customers and associates more than childhood hunger,” said Rondel Hartwell, BI-LO’s director of community involvement and charitable giving. “It’s our belief that no child should ever go hungry and that every child deserves nutritious meals and a healthy start to life.”

Added Hartwell, “the BI-LO Summer Backpack Hunger Relief Program provides a quick and easy way for our communities to help give hungry children a nutritious meal.”

The 22 food banks benefitting from the BI-LO Summer Backpack Hunger Relief program include:

• America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, Inc.- Savannah, Ga.
• Tri-State Food Pantry- Trenton, Ga.
• Here I AM, The Care Mission-LaFayette, Ga.
• Chattanooga Area Food Bank-Chattanooga, Tenn.
• We Care Food Pantry in Rhea County-Dayton, Tenn.
• HaCoBA Ministries-Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Soddy Daisy Food Bank-Soddy Daisy, Tenn.
• Waterville Baptist Church-Cleveland, Tenn.
• Lee University Food Bank-Cleveland, Tenn.
• Wesley Memorial UMC Food Pantry-Etowah, Tenn.
• The Samaritan Center-Ooltewah, Tenn.
• Ninth District Food Bank-Blairsville, Ga.
• Murray County Senior Center-Chatsworth, Ga.
• Loaves & Fishes-Lula, Ga.
• Food Bank of Northeast Georgia-Athens, Ga.
• Golden Harvest Food Bank-Augusta, Ga.
• Harvest Hope Food Bank-Columbia, S.C.
• Lowcountry Food Bank-Charleston, S.C.
• Honea Path United Ministries-Honea Path, S.C.
• MANNA Food Bank-Asheville, N.C.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina-Charlotte, N.C.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina- Winston-Salem, N.C.

BI-LO has a rich history of supporting its neighborhoods and communities through foundation and vendor supported charitable donations and programs. The company’s associates don’t just work in the stores; they live in these neighborhoods and are passionate about building stronger, healthier communities. BI-LO encourages customers to address the childhood hunger needs in their communities by making donations at store registers as they complete their grocery shopping.

About BI-LO

BI-LO, LLC is a subsidiary of Bi-Lo Holdings, which is the fifth-largest conventional supermarket in the United States based on store count. Founded in 1961, BI-LO employs more than 19,000 associates who serve customers in 224 grocery stores and 113 in-store pharmacies throughout the four southeastern states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. For more information, please visit www.bi-lo.com and www.biloholdings.com.