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Walmart announces 50 food banks with the most votes as part of its Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign

Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign distributes $3.7 million in donations to help fight U.S. hunger

Bentonville, Ark., 2014-10-8— /EPR Retail News/ — From Sept.15 to Oct. 5, more than 362,000 votes were cast for 129 participating Feeding America food banks as part of Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign. Local communities rallied together throughout the month to vote at www.walmart.com/fighthunger and, as a result, the 50 food banks with the most votes were selected as winners of a $60,000 grant. These grants will help food banks and partner agencies secure the food, equipment and support they need to help serve the 49 million Americans that, according to the USDA, may not know where their next meal will come from at some point this year.

The Feeding America food banks receiving grants through Fight Hunger.Spark Change. are:

Food Bank City Votes
Feeding South Dakota Sioux Falls, SD 13,676
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley Youngstown, OH 13,061
Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma Oklahoma City, OK 7,434
Freestore Foodbank Cincinnati, OH 7,314
Rhode Island Community Food Bank Providence, RI 7,095
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC Winston-Salem, NC 6,499
River Valley Regional Food Bank Fort Smith, AR 6,173
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee Kingsport, TN 6,150
Northern Illinois Food Bank Geneva, IL 5,795
Weld Food Bank Greeley, CO 5,527
Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida Fort Myers, FL 5,483
Kansas Food Bank Wichita, KS 5,065
Feeding America Southwest Virginia Salem, VA 4,970
Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma Tulsa, OK 4,954
Food Bank of Lincoln Lincoln, NE 4,856
Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc. Fort Wayne, IN 4,748
Central Illinois Foodbank, Inc. Springfield, IL 4,715
Greater Cleveland Food Bank Cleveland, OH 4,708
God’s Pantry Food Bank Lexington, KY 4,706
CEO’s Weinberg Regional Food Bank Wilkes Barre, PA 4,705
Wichita Falls Area Food Bank Wichita Falls, TX 4,689
Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin Madison, WI 4,682
Northeast Iowa Food Bank Waterloo, IA 4,676
Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland Elizabethtown, KY 4,662
Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Akron, OH 4,645
Mid-Ohio Foodbank Grove City, OH 4,640
Food Bank of the Albemarle Elizabeth City, NC 4,639
St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance Phoenix, AZ 4,600
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida Orlando, FL 4,582
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties San Jose, CA 4,571
Lowcountry Food Bank Charleston, SC 4,565
Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 4,561
Good Shepherd Food Bank Auburn, ME 4,560
The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri Columbia, MO 4,555
Chattanooga Area Food Bank Chattanooga, TN 4,554
East Texas Food Bank Tyler, TX 4,550
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Nashville, TN 4,544
St. Louis Area Foodbank Bridgeton, MO 4,518
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Harrisburg, PA 4,506
Connecticut Food Bank East Haven, CT 4,489
Harvest Texarkana Regional Food Bank Texarkana, AR 4,484
Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Verona, VA 4,482
Food Bank of Northern Nevada McCarran, NV 4,465
Hoosier Hills Food Bank Bloomington, IN 4,443
Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County Sharon, PA 4,443
Atlanta Community Food Bank Atlanta, GA 4,441
Greater Berks Food Bank Reading, PA 4,432
Bay Area Food Bank Theodore, AL 4,426
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee Maryville, TN 4,415
Dare to Care Food Bank Louisville, KY 4,415

“We want to thank everyone who rallied together and voted in the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign for their commitment to hunger relief,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability. “Through the grants, we know the winning organizations and their partners will continue making great strides in the fight against hunger in their communities. By continuing our work together we hope to bring about a day when no family has to wonder where their next meal will come from.”

The Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign launched during a critical time when our nation’s food banks are faced with historically high rates of food insecurity. Feeding America recently released its Hunger in America 2014 report showing that in a single year one in seven Americans, including 12 million children, turn to the Feeding America network of food banks for food assistance. To help Feeding America meet this need, Walmart teamed up with six of the nation’s largest food companies for the campaign – General Mills, Unilever, Hormel, ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo/Quaker and Kellogg Company – to distribute $3.7 million, the monetary equivalent  of more than 37 million meals,[i] to Feeding America food banks and local agencies throughout the United States.

“We are proud to stand together with Walmart and their partners to help fight hunger across the country,” said Bob Aiken, CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. “With 49 million of our neighbors and friends struggling with hunger, we know it’s going to take all of us working together to make sure that everyone has enough food for their families.”

As the nation’s largest grocer, Walmart is in a unique leadership position to impact the issue of hunger in the United States, and joining with suppliers, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations will only help magnify its efforts. Fight Hunger. Spark Change. is just one part of Walmart’s fight to end hunger. Walmart recently announced further food goals in the areas of affordability, accessibility, healthier eating and safety and transparency, which included providing four billion meals to those in need in the United States over the next five years. To learn more about Walmart’s work to fight hunger, visit foundation.walmart.com.

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About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committed to helping people live better through philanthropic efforts that draw on the strengths of Walmart in the arenas of sustainability, economic opportunity, and community. As part of our commitment to creating a more sustainable food system worldwide, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are leading the fight against hunger in the United States. They recently exceeded a $2 billion goal to fight hunger one year ahead of schedule and have donated more than 1.5 billion pounds of food to those in need across the country. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit www.foundation.walmart.com.

¹In January 2014, Walmart donated the monetary equivalent of 33 million meals ($3.3 million) to Feeding America. In September 2014, the six participating food companies (General Mills, Unilever, Hormel, ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo/Quaker and Kellogg Company) have collectively pledged to donate the monetary equivalent of 4.26 million meals ($426,000). $1 helps provide 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks.

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