WalMart donates to Food Bank of Delaware

A ceremony was held at the Milford Walmart announcing the donation of two refrigerated trucks, $330,000 and one million pounds of food from the Walmart Foundation.

The Food Bank of Delaware received its first truck from the Walmart Foundation in 2012. Earlier this fall, the food bank received its second truck valued at $117,000. The two 26-foot trucks enable the hunger-relief organization to travel up and down the state picking up perishable food donations, including fruits, vegetables and meats, from local retailers -including Walmart.

“If it wasn’t for our customers, today wouldn’t be possible,” said Milford Walmart Store Manager Stephanie Edwards. “In 1962, Walmart was founded on the principle of providing people in a small community with access to healthy food at prices they can afford.”

According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study, 119,500 Delawareans live in food insecure households. Last year Delawareans visited the Food Bank of Delaware network of hunger-relief program partners more than 900,000 times.Milford Mayor Bryan Shupe was on hand for the occasion.

“The Food Bank of Delaware serves the most vulnerable in our community. I am pleased that the city can be a part of this.”

“We could not possibly serve as many Delawareans as we do if it was not for the support of community partners like Walmart,” said Food Bank of Delaware Programs Director Charlotte McGarry. “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of Walmart over the past two years. To receive two trucks within two years is really special and is much needed in our state.”

Through their long standing commitment to fighting hunger, Walmart and the Walmart Foundationprovide donations of both food and funds to Feeding America and its nationwide network of food banks. The Food Bank of Delaware is one of nearly 200 Feeding America members that currentlyreceive product donations from local Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation recently met and exceeded a $2 billion goal to fight U.S. hunger one year ahead of schedule and have donated more than 1.5 billion pounds of food to those in need across the country. Additionally, 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, go to foundation.walmart.com.