SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion's charitable foundation, Food Lion Feeds, is partnering with school districts across its footprint to help provide meals to children and their families during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Beginning April 17th, and occurring weekly, Food Lion Feeds will donate reusable food bags for meal distributions with a $20 gift card to support children in the Sumter and Richland County School Districts.
Richland County students in K-12 and their families can pick up the food bags and gift cards throughout April and May at the following sites:
- Eau Claire High School
- Lower Richland High School
- Dent Middle School
Sumter County students in K-12 and their families can pick up the food bags and gift cards at Hillcrest Middle School.
Food Lion says it worked 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.
“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 and our commitment to nourishing our neighbors is as strong as it’s ever been.”
Last month, the retailer announced a donation of $3.1 million to fight hunger in the towns and cities it serves, 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 Columbia-Area schools and 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.”
