Food Lion launched the Food Lion Feeds Orange Bag campaign to raise money to buy meals for people facing food insecurity across Southwest Virginia. Shoppers will be asked at checkout whether they want to buy a bag of oranges; each purchase translates into 5 meals for local families.
One in five children faces hunger in Southwest Virginia, according to nonprofit Feeding Southwest Virginia, and Food Lion has committed to donating up to 2 million meals as part of the campaign. All donations are intended to stay local and benefit people within the stores’ service areas.
“So right now across our service region more than 170000 neighbors, including 42,000 children face hunger in Southwest Virginia. And looking at that a little bit more locally, for every seven neighbors, one is facing hunger and for every child, one in five faces hunger. And in the especially rural pockets of the state, we expect those numbers to go even higher,” said Rachel Garnett, Director of Marketing and Communications at Feeding Southwest Virginia.
“Food Lion wants to be a part of the community and helping feed the needy,” said Terri McGinnis, Food Lion Retail Support Specialist based in Roanoke.
When customers checkout at any Food Lion location, they’ll be asked if they want to buy a bag of oranges. You can keep the oranges or donate them. Each purchase provides five meals to local families in need.
“If you cannot buy a pack of oranges, you can make monetary donations online or at our registers and it helps out our families and our communities,” said Roanoke Store Manager Calvin Walter.
He said he means a lot to be able to help those in need in the surrounding community.
“Oh, it makes me feel good. All my associates, they feel good when they’re helping out the community, too,” Walter said.
The program runs through March 17.
Customers can support the campaign by purchasing specially marked bags of Food Lion oranges, making cash donations in-store or online via Food Lion To Go, donating a specific dollar amount at checkout or rounding up their purchases to support hunger-relief efforts in their local communities.
For every bag of oranges sold, Food Lion Feeds will donate the monetary equivalent of five meals to Feeding America and partner food banks, up to 2 million meals. Donations to each local food bank are based on the number of eligible bagged oranges sold within each food bank’s service area. Additionally, 100% of all cash donations directly support Feeding America and partner food banks.