Food Lion Feeds to Support Thousands of Children During Unprecedented Time

Retailer to Donate and Distribute Reusable Food Bags and Gift Cards in Continued Fight Against Child Hunger During Unprecedented Time

SALISBURY, N.C., April 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Continuing its mission to nourish neighbors in the towns and cities impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19), Food Lion Feeds is partnering with school districts across its footprint, to help in their efforts of delivering meals to children and their families. Beginning April 17^th and occurring weekly, Food Lion Feeds will donate reusable food bags to these meal distributions as well as a $20 gift card to supplement the meals.

“No child should go to bed hungry, and with our hunger-relief partners seeing unprecedented demand, we want to do what we can to help make sure that children in our towns and cities have the food they need to thrive,” said Meg Ham, Food Lion president. "These distributions will provide supplemental meals for our youngest neighbors who rely on the school system for food. This is a difficult time for many, but our commitment to nourishing our neighbors is as strong as it’s ever been.”

Food Lion Feeds worked with regional community partners in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to identify key locations with the highest percentage of student eligibility for the National School Lunch Program.

Students in K-12 and their families can pick up the food bags and gift cards through May.

This is the latest effort of Food Lion Feeds to address the needs of the community in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the retailer announced a donation of $3.1 million to fight hunger in the towns and cities it serves, delivering 15 million meals through funding for its Feeding-America®-affiliated food bank partners, its associate emergency care fund and funding to support vaccine and treatment research. The funding for the school systems throughout the three states adds an additional $500,000 to Food Lion’s commitment to address the impact of COVID-19.

“We are continuing to do what we can to take care of the most vulnerable in our communities, including seniors, children and families who are struggling with food insecurity,” Ham said. “We recognize that our communities are counting on us, and we are here to serve them.”

About Food Lion

Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 68,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has donated more than 500 million meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donate 1 billion more meals by 2025. Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com. 

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