Food Pantry Holiday Makeover Campaign Awards $20,000 in Grants to 75 Food Pantries Across the Country
BENTONVILLE, Ark., 2014-12-16 — /EPR Retail News/ — Today, Walmart announced the 75 food pantry winners of the Food Pantry Holiday Makeover campaign that will each receive a $20,000 grant for facility makeovers. Over the past two weeks, communities nationwide came together to vote at walmart.com/holidaymakeover for their local food pantry to win a grant. The grants are being made to help the winning food pantries, such as the Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry in Huntingtown, Md., renovate their facilities and purchase essential equipment such as new refrigerators, ovens, stoves, storage units, and even refrigerated trucks to help them better serve families in need.
“We are humbled by the turnout of support Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry has received throughout the campaign, and we’re so excited to be able to use the funds to expand our facility. It will help us improve the food distribution area to make it much easier for people in need to access food. We’ll also be able to expand our food storage area, allowing us to provide healthier foods so more families can eat nutritious meals,” said Rev. Robert P. Hahn, Senior Pastor Chesapeake Church, Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry. “We thank Walmart for their generosity and their commitment to reach out to local food pantries, the people who are on the front lines of this fight. Every food pantry in the running was worthy and we all stand shoulder to shoulder in combating the truly solvable problem in our country: hunger.”
The Food Pantry Holiday Makeover campaign launched at a time when food pantries across the country are preparing for their busiest time of year and facing high rates of need, with more than 49 million Americans experiencing food insecurity in 2013i. Meeting this need requires food pantries to not only have food on hand, but be well-equipped to safely store, prepare, and transport the food that will ultimately end up on a family’s table.
“We are so thankful for everyone who voted and for the communities that came together to support their local hunger relief agencies,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability. “Today, the dedicated food pantry staff and volunteers who work so hard to fight hunger can start making plans for the purchase of new equipment and renovations. We hope that these grants will help make the holidays a little brighter not just for the food pantry staff and volunteers, but also, most importantly, for the families served by these organizations.”
The following food pantries earned the most votes from Dec. 2 through Dec. 12 and will receive part of $1.5 million in grants from Walmart:
| State | City | Food Pantry |
| Alabama | Birmingham | The Village |
| Chunchula | Georgetown-Chunchula United Methodist Church | |
| Arizona | Sahuarita | The Good Shepherd Church UCC |
| Arkansas | Fort Smith | Christ For The World |
| Rogers | National Council of the United States of St. Vincent de Paul | |
| California | Sacramento | Daughters of Zion Enterpryz |
| Vacaville | Vacaville Storehouse | |
| Connecticut | Andover | Andover Food Pantry |
| Bridgeport | Iglesia Adventista Hispana de Bridgeport | |
| New Haven | Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and Clothing Closet | |
| Florida | Clewiston | Iglesia Misionera Mundial Inc. |
| Destin | Destin Harvest Inc. | |
| Fort Myers | Community Cooperative | |
| Salvation Army | ||
| Temple Terrace | Kingdom Kids of Tampa Bay, Inc. | |
| Georgia | Augusta | Bible Deliverance Temple |
| Vineyard Church of Augusta | ||
| Carrolton | Open Hands United Christian Ministry | |
| Decatur | New Life Community Ministries, Inc. | |
| Newnan | BTG Community Outreach, Inc. | |
| Woodstock | Alive Ministries, Inc. | |
| Hawaii | Honolulu | River of Life Mission |
| Wahiawa | Surfing The Nations | |
| Illinois | Centralia | WAMAC Mission of Hope, Inc. |
| Quincy | The Salvation Army of Quincy Illinois | |
| Indiana | Brazil | St Vincent de Paul Society Annunciation Conference |
| Iowa | Adel | Good Samaritan Food Pantry, Inc. |
| Ames | Food at First | |
| Mason City | Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank | |
| Quincy | Lutheran Church of St. John Food Pantry | |
| Kansas | Independence | Community Access Center – Independence Food Basket |
| Louisiana | Opelousas | Living Waters Community Development Corporation of Louisiana |
| Maryland | Huntingtown | Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry |
| Massachusetts | Salem | East Gate Christian Fellowship Joseph’s Storehouse Food Pantry |
| Michigan | Jamestown | In His Name Ministries, Inc. |
| Sutton Bay | Leelanau Christian Neighbors | |
| Minnesota | Blaine | Hope For The Community |
| Burnsville | Vineyard Community Services | |
| Golden Valley | People Responding in Social Ministry (PRISM) | |
| Grand Rapids | Community Cafe Inc. | |
| Moose Lake | Moose Lake Area Food Shelf | |
| St. Paul | Keystone Community Services | |
| Missouri | La Plata | La Plata Christian Ministries Food Distribution Center |
| Mexico | The Help Center, Inc. | |
| Nevada | Henderson | Saint Therese Center HIV Outreach |
| New York | Binghamton | First Assembly of God |
| Canton | Church & Community Program | |
| Farmingville | Shinnecock Revival Center | |
| North Carolina | High Point | Helping Hands High Point |
| Sunbury | Changing Today For A Brighter Tomorrow | |
| Thomasville | Fairgrove Family Resource Center, Inc. | |
| Ohio | Columbus | Feed My Sheep Ministries |
| Gladden Community House | ||
| Oklahoma | Woodward | Woodward Families Helping Families Inc. |
| Pennsylvania | Allison Park | North Hills Community Outreach |
| Erie | SSJ Neighborhood Network | |
| Somerset | Somerset County Mobile Food Bank Inc. | |
| South Carolina | Columbia | St. Vincent de Paul Society |
| Hilton Head Island | Sandalwood Community Food Pantry | |
| Tennessee | Antioch | The Branch of Nashville, Inc. |
| Clarksville | Manna Café Ministries | |
| Nashville | The Little Pantry That Could | |
| Texas | Houston | Kids’ Meals, Inc. |
| Plano | Minnie’s Food Pantry, Inc. | |
| San Antonio | Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Inc. | |
| Utah | Draper | Jesus Feeds Food Pantry |
| Spanish Fork | Tabitha’s Way | |
| Virginia | Charlottesville | Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, Inc. |
| Chilhowie | Loaves and Fishes Chilhowie Area Food Pantry, Inc. | |
| Farmville | Farmville Area Community Emergency Services | |
| Washington | Tacoma | St. Leo Food Connection |
| West Virginia | Ashtown | Crosslight of Hope, Inc. |
| Wisconsin | Madison | The River Food Pantry, Inc. |
| Verona | Verona Area Needs Network | |
| Wyoming | Casper | Poverty Resistance Food Pantry |
The campaign is part of Walmart’s recently announced 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. Learn more about Walmart’s work to fight hunger.
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 11,156 stores under 71 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. With fiscal year 2014 sales of over $473 billion, Walmart employs approximately 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.
i United States Department of Agriculture. (2014). Household Food Security in the United States in 2013. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1565415/err173.pdf