Giant’s Feeding School Kids initiative returns
As part of Giants annual Feeding School Kids initiative, customers at Giant, Martin’s and Giant Heirloom Market stores are invited to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar, buy a reusable bag or convert their Choice points into a donation for their local public school districts’ food programs.
The initiative, now in its fourth year, will run for three months through March 31 to help meet the needs of many students.
“When children are hungry, it can impact their academic success which is why we partnered with our local public school districts to address and to help eliminate childhood hunger in our communities,” said Jessica Groves, community impact manager at Giant. “Over the past three years, together with our customers and team members, we have raised more than $6 million through Feeding School Kids to help support hunger relief efforts both at school and at home. This year we are excited to extend the initiative an extra month for schools to raise even more needed funds.”
[Read more: Giant releases community impact report]
This year, Giant will donate $100,000 to launch the program. Through Feeding School Kids, public school districts have been able to support meal programs, address food insecurity, supply backpacks with weekend food, clear outstanding student lunch debt and more.
For example, Frederick County School District (Va.) and Winchester School District (Va.) provided weekend food packs for more than 1,300 students and during the summer supported more than 2,900 students; Norristown School District (Pa.) distributed 10,000 meal boxes in the summer containing five breakfasts and five lunches in each box; York Suburban School District (Pa.) restocked their pantry to double their service to 175 families; and Jefferson County School District (W. Va.) purchased kitchen equipment to improve the quality of meals served.
“The donations we receive from The Giant Company have gone directly to our Summer Meal Distribution Program,” said David Ludwig, director of food services at Norristown Area School District. “We have converted a school bus we now call the ‘Nest Express’ to meet our students and families in our community parks. During our summer program we distribute 35,000 breakfasts and 35,000 lunches reaching 1,000 students each week. This would not be possible without the district receiving grant funds and donations from organizations like The Giant Company. Partnering with The Giant Company has proven to be a great benefit for our students and families in the Norristown Area School District.”