Beginning in February 2021, Walmart began holding COVID-19 vaccination events at 43 locations in 18 states, particularly in communities with limited access to health care services.

Coronavirus vaccine administration sites will include drive-thru locations in store parking lots, in-store areas and off-site venues, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant said. The off-site locations will be operated in tandem with community groups, such as Casa del Inmigrante/Immigrant Home Foundation, a nonprofit serving immigrants in Las Vegas; the Indianapolis Urban League in Indiana; and the Jackson Housing Authority and Wishrock at the Golden Key Envision Center in Jackson, Miss.

Many of the locations for the vaccine events were chosen following an analysis of area demographics, local health needs and gaps in access to medical care, Walmart noted. The company said it pinpointed communities where it could make the greatest impact for populations most in need.

By April 2020, when getting a COVID test was still a challenge, Kroger Health, the supermarket retailer’s health care arm, announced that free drive-thru testing for COVID-19 would be rolled out to 50 locations in more than 12 states by the end of May. In that time frame, the Cincinnati-based company would conduct up to 100,000 tests. Retailers ranging from Walmart (with 100 sites by the end of May) to regional chains like Hy-Vee and SpartanNash’s Family Fare also began drive-thru testing sites in the spring.

As early as last March, as the pandemic began raging across the country, retailers began pouring their financial resources into easing the crisis: Walmart committed $25 million to support organizations on the front lines responding to the outbreak as well as food banks, school meal programs and organizations that provide access to food for underserved populations; Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation  announced a $3 million commitment to rapidly deploy hunger-relief resources to communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic; Albertsons committed to $50 million to alleviate hunger across its national retail footprint via its “Nourishing Neighbors Community Relief” campaign; and Ahold Delhaize USA donated $10 million in relief to local communities served by its grocery banners in the Northeast.

As the pandemic continued, retailers continued to add their financial support to hunger relief efforts, frontline workers, emergency response and healthcare workers and community outreach efforts.

Northeastern grocer Stop & Shop this February provided free, fresh meals to staff at mass-vaccination sites in the markets it serves, including vaccination hubs at Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts and the Meadowlands sports complex in New Jersey.

The effort was a continuation of a program begun in spring 2020 when the retailer supplied 5,000 fresh meals daily to hospitals in Boston and New York City, which were among the nation’s hardest-hit by COVID-19. “Medical first responders are doing incredible work in extremely trying conditions to keep our communities safe, and we are honored to have this opportunity to help,” Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said last April during the height of COVID in the Northeast.

Expanding its lineup of family meal solutions to help families cope with cooking and meal prep burnout, The Giant Company in February 2021 launched “All Set in a Box,” a ready-to-eat hot dinner package that offers a main course and sides for four people.

Customers call ahead or order in-store for an All Set in a Box meal, which is ready within 15 minutes. Entree choices include taco kits, eight pieces of chicken, ribs, rotisserie chicken and chicken tenders. Side dish and bread options range from mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, coleslaw, macaroni salad and pepper slaw to cornbread, biscuits and more. 

“While families are spending more time gathered around the table enjoying meals together, many are also facing meal fatigue when it comes to what they should prepare,” said John MacDonald, director of meal solutions and marketing operations at Giant. “The Giant Company regularly inspires our customers with various quick, easy and affordable meals for busy families from ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat and ready-to-cook.”

From summertime socially distanced drive-in movies to holiday light shows in December, Walmart created a series of seasonal fun family activities to a nation in lockdown. The country’s largest retailer turned store parking lots into drive-in theaters last August through October, while also offering kids at home a virtual summer camp experience. During the fall, the retailer launched a virtual Halloween camp for kids and contact-free trick-or-treat adventures in its parking lots and a socially distanced twist on tailgating for college football games. In December, Walmart lit up the skies with its first Holiday Drone Light Show, an all-new family-friendly experience celebrating the holiday season.

“After a particularly tough year, we want to help families end the year looking up,” said William White, chief marketing officer at Walmart in December. “We want customers and communities to enjoy a moment of rest, peace and hope. From our summer movie drive-in to our fall gameday and Halloween experiences, we’ve been finding ways to help families enjoy seasonal traditions in a year when they thought it might not be possible.” 

With many Americans turning to comfort foods during the pandemic, Stop & Shop went live with a 1990s nostalgia website selling popular foods and beverages from the decade.

The  “throwback” website — called “The ’90s — A Decade of Unforgettable Foods” — offers a curated assortment of hundreds of items across six main categories: breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, desserts and beverages, including some of the decade’s most recognizable products.

“Food is a source of comfort for many people, and making sure our stores are stocked with customer favorites — new and old — is a top priority for our brand,” said Gordon Reid, president of Stop & Shop.

Examples of retro food and drink products on Stop & Shop’s ’90s throwback site — with a design inspired by the kids’ sitcom “Saved by the Bell” — include Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal, Eggo waffles and Pop-Tarts pastries for breakfast; Smucker's Uncrustables, Totino's pizza rolls and Lunchables kids meals for lunch; Fruit Gushers, Chex Mix and Fruit Roll-Ups for snacks; and Chef Boyardee beef ravioli.

For Chicago residents sheltering in place during the pandemic, local grocery stalwart Mariano’s, a division of Kroger’s Roundy’s brand, launched Mariano’s Meet Ups, an online platform for cooking classes, wine tastings, mixology sessions, live Chicago style music and more. 

Featuring interactive classes and demonstrations from local chefs and sommeliers, customers can learn tips and tricks for preparing meals and cocktails during lockdown and social distancing. Mariano’s posts the grocery list in advance of the cooking classes so customers can engage and learn how to prepare the dishes and drinks with the experts. Groceries can be ordered online for pickup or delivery.

St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets showed its support for local restaurants devastated by COVID lockdowns in 2020 by carrying an array of their menu items in stores. Meals, side dishes, snacks and other offerings from six local restaurants — Revel Kitchen, Crispy Edge, Seoul Taco, Nudo House STL, Crushed Red and Hot Box Cookies — were offered in the deli grab-and-go coolers and frozen department at designated stores in the St. Louis marketplace.

“As a part of the St. Louis business community for more than 80 years, we feel we have an obligation to help those local restaurant entrepreneurs and their staffs who have been greatly impacted by the pandemic,” said Schnucks President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Peacock said in a statement. “Schnucks hopes that by supporting local restaurants that our customers will continue to support local businesses, too.”

The success of the program led to its expansion later in the year to focus on Black-owned restaurants  hit hard financially during the pandemic. During the holidays, Schnucks also rewarded all of its associates with $15 gift cards to local restaurants in an effort to support those businesses.

Last April, as restaurants closed and supermarkets boomed, retailers from Texas to Michigan supported the foodservice industry and other small businesses through a number of partnerships. Supercenter operator Meijer supported local restaurants with its “Buy Local” program enabling each of Meijer’s 248 supercenters, grocery stores and distribution centers to partner with an independent restaurant in its area to buy meals for its workers.  In San Antonio H-E-B helped out local restaurants by selling their meals in its stores with proceeds from the sales of the chef-prepared meals going directly to the restaurants. And in western Michigan, eight restaurants in the region created menus of favorite customer meals and side dishes that were sold at 25 supermarkets under SpartanNash’s D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare, Forest Hills Foods and Ada Fresh Market banners.

The Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund in November teamed up with Bashas’ Diné Markets to bring direct relief to families in need on the Navajo Nation, which was experiencing uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus in about 55 communities.

Volunteers handed out more than 5,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to Navajo and Hopi families at Bashas’ Diné Markets in Chinle, Kayenta and Tuba City, Ariz. The first distribution event, held during a five-day period, was so successful that additional distributions were planned, and more grocery store locations on the Navajo Nation will participate.

“We want to help protect Navajo and Hopi families, and do our part to help flatten the COVID-19 curve on the Navajo Nation,” said Johnny Basha, vice president of special projects for Arizona-based Bashas’ Family of Stores, the family-owned grocer that operates Bashas' Diné supermarkets. “After seeing how successful this PPE distribution was, we decided to expand our partnership with the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund by adding additional distribution events and locations, providing more families with the critical PPE that they need to protect their families.”

Back in July, Midwestern grocer Hy-Vee encouraged shoppers to cover their faces to protect themselves and others from COVID by distributing 3 million free face masks. Under the program — called “Mask It Up To Shut COVID Down. It’s Your Choice.” — Hy-Vee provided face masks for customers at all of its stores.

Employees were stationed at the front entrance to hand out masks to customers not wearing one before they started shopping, the West Des Moines, Iowa-based company said. There were also signs, employee attire and other reminders inside the store about the educational campaign.

Workers at Hy-Vee stores were required to wear masks beginning in April 2020.

Schnuck Markets teamed up with more than a dozen St. Louis-area companies to make a memorable graduation happen for eight area high schools who wanted to bring their graduating seniors a real commencement ceremony. The socially distanced graduations with spectators in their cars took place in May at POWERplex STL, a multi-use amateur sports complex in Hazelwood, Mo. The ceremony featured two video trucks, livestreaming, Jumbotrons and food trucks delivering curbside to guests.  

In September, Schnucks also announced a $100,000 donation to ease the technology crisis in St. Louis public schools and two charter schools as many students returned to classes virtually in the face of the pandemic.

In May 2020, Big Y Foods instituted a price freeze on over 10,000 items as a way to help customers financially pinched by the pandemic. The Springfield, Mass.-based operator of 83 stores noted that prices on the listed products may even decrease, and the company will continue to offer sales discounts.

“This is a critical time for our customers, and we wanted to recognize that with more than just words of support,” said Michael D’Amour, chief operating officer at Big Y. “We have all been through a tough period, and there are certainly challenges ahead. But we felt it was time to do more to help.”

Items on the list included Big Y brands as well as national brands of fresh chicken, butter, red and green seedless grapes, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, breakfast cereal, English muffins, cheese, strawberries, Greek yogurt, pizza, orange juice and spring water.

More products are slated to be added to the list. Big Y added that it has pledged to hold the line on prices for these items despite the current volatility of food prices.

“We are going to do more,” said D’Amour. “Our customers are like family to us, and we want to help them and the communities we serve.”

Last spring, Kroger’s Dairy Rescue Program donated milk to those in need, as dairy farmers nationwide were being forced to dump millions of gallons of milk due to plunging demand amid the coronavirus crisis. In partnership with its dairy cooperative suppliers and farmers across the Midwest and South, Kroger processed and donate about 200,000 gallons of additional milk to Feeding America food banks and community groups through the end of August. The effort was part of the Cincinnati-based grocer’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste anti-hunger and sustainability initiative.

Meanwhile, grocery distributor and supermarket retailer SpartanNash partnered with Borden Dairy to distribute 57,600 servings of milk to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan for those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the Northeast, Hannaford Supermarkets announced a $250,000 donation to support farms throughout New England and New York adversely impacted by the pandemic.  As a result of the donation, 250 farms in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Massachusetts received funding via the American Farmland Trust’s Farmer Relief Fund.

The donation directly supported small local farmers and producers who have experienced market disruptions as their primary buyers and points of sale, including farmers markets, restaurants and schools, had closed or drastically decreased operations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

Walmart and online neighborhood hub Nextdoor in April 2020 launched the “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” program, an effort to make it easier for neighbors across the United States to help one another during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through the program, Nextdoor members in cities across the country can request assistance — or offer to help someone in their community — with shopping for their essential items at Walmart. According to the companies, this support network makes it easier for vulnerable community members to coordinate the pickup and delivery of their groceries, medications and other essentials with a neighbor who is already planning a shopping trip to their local Walmart store — completely contact-free.

“I’ve seen firsthand the countless ways our Walmart team is working together during this challenging time, leading with humanity, compassion and understanding to serve our customers,” said Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer at Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart. “We’re continuing to do that through [this program]. We’re connecting neighbors to each other so that more members of our communities have access to essential items, while limiting contact and the number of people shopping in our stores.”

Back in April, at the height of crowded supermarkets, Stop & Shop expanded its support of seniors with half-price rides to its grocery stores via Uber during reserved shopping hours.

“We are grateful to Uber for partnering with us to help our communities during this very challenging time and to make it easier for those who may be more vulnerable to make their essential shopping trips,” said Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid in April. “We also hope this commitment will provide a helpful option for customers who wish to shop during special hours but who have told us they are unable to drive or live in areas where other means of transportation are limited or have been temporarily suspended.”

Supermarkets around the country stepped up during the pandemic to help redistribute a bounty of produce and other products that in many cases had had been intended for the foodservice industry.

West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee, for example, partnered with its suppliers to conduct a series of produce giveaways at many of its stores, as well as raising more than $1 million for Feeding America-affiliated food banks through customer donations at checkout during April and May.

California retailer Raley’s donated $100,000 worth of ready-to-eat meals, produce and proteins to the Volunteers of America, which provides meals to seniors, disabled adults, former foster youth, homeless families and veterans across Raley’s footprint in Northern California and Northern Nevada.

Also in that same region, The Save Mart Cos. donated in excess of 235,000 pounds of healthy, shelf-stable food items, which resulted in providing more than 196,000 meals. Additionally, through the companies’ “Fresh Rescue” program, another 5.3 million pounds of produce and other perishable food items were donated to local food banks in a companywide effort to mitigate the impact of food insecurity.

And The Giant Company in Carlisle, Pa., donated $500,000 to rescue small food businesses through an emergency grant program — double what the company originally planned, after seeing strong demand.

Southeastern Grocers donated more than $1.28 million in “hunger relief” bags of groceries to food pantries assisting food-insecure Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic back in May.

Through an in-store program running at Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie, Harveys Supermarket and Fresco y Más stores, customers purchased nearly 258,000 $5 hunger relief bags containing dry groceries, which then were donated to Feeding America member food banks. The campaign was done in conjunction with the SEG Gives Foundation.

Southeastern Grocers said all of the hunger relief bags were fulfilled directly from its warehouse and delivered to local food banks, providing a contactless donation for shoppers and store associates. The bags held shelf-stable SE Grocers products such as spaghetti, canned green beans, canned corn, and boxes of macaroni and cheese.