SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion customers and associates raised more than $500,000 through its latest "Hunger Has A Cure" Campaign, which supports Feeding America's network of local food banks.
Feeding America will use the funds to provide 3.7 million meals to those in need.
The two-week campaign, which ran April 4 through April 17, allowed customers to donate $1, $3 or any other amount of their choice at checkout.
"We are ecstatic about the more than 3.7 million meals that we were able to provide to families in need," said Bill Garcia, manager of community relations for Food Lion, in a statement. "We are proud to work with Feeding America to help eliminate hunger in our communities."
Now that the campaign has ended, 75%of the proceeds will be distributed to local Feeding America food banks in the Food Lion footprint where the funds were raised. The other 25% will be donated to the national Feeding America organization. Feeding America is able to help provide eight meals per every $1 donated.
In addition to area food banks receiving the proceeds of the Hunger Has A Cure Campaign, five food banks will receive an additional $5,000 from Food Lion to honor the support from customers in five top fundraising areas. Those food banks are the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.; Maryland Food Bank, Baltimore, Md.; Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Verona, Va.; Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank, Salem, Va.; and Feedmore Central Virginia Food Bank, Richmond, Va.
Food Lion contributes more than 37 million pounds of food donations annually to Feeding America. Last year, the "Hunger Has a Cure Campaign" raised $440,000 and 1.4 million pounds of food to help families seeking food assistance through the Feeding America network.
