Walmart, Sam’s Club and St. Mary’s Food Bank Kick-Off 2019 “Fight Hunger. Spark Change” Campaign

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Last year’s Campaign Raised More Than $240,000 for St. Mary’s Food Bank” use_theme_fonts=”yes” spacing_top=”space-top-1-5x” spacing_bot=”space-bottom-none” align=”align-center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text spacing_top=”space-top-half” spacing_bot=”space-bottom-1-5x”]One in eight Americans and one in seven Arizonans struggle with hunger.

To raise awareness and combat the issue, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Feeding America® and St. Mary’s Food Bank are kicking off its sixth annual nationwide “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” (FHSC) campaign, which will run from April 22 to May 20.

Last year, the FHSC Campaign resulted in a donation of 1.67 million meals to St. Mary’s, helping the food bank pay for important client programs including the Mobile Pantry Program, which drops food into more than 40 of the more impoverished areas of the state, giving surrounding residents access to more supplemental food for their families.

Walmart volunteers will team with St. Mary’s and neighborhood volunteers to distribute Mobile Pantry food to clients on Thursday, April 25 at the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church (1401 East Jefferson Street in Phoenix) from 9-11 a.m.

More than 200 families receive food from this mobile pantry site twice a month and represents how “Fight Hunger, Spark Change” impacts the hungry all over the country.

Walmart and Sam’s Club now invite Arizona shoppers to help fight hunger in their local community. There are three ways to participate – purchasing a participating item in-store or online, donating in-store or donating on Feeding America’s website.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”21578″ alignment=”center” spacing_top=”space-top-quarter” spacing_bot=”space-bottom-quarter”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text spacing_bot=”space-bottom-1-5x”]With 749 million meals achieved over the last five years, Arizona customers and members can help the Feeding America network secure its 1 billion cumulative meals goal in three ways. They can track the number of meals by visiting www.walmart.com/fighthunger.

• For every participating product purchased at U.S. Walmart stores, Sam’s Clubs or on Walmart.com during the campaign, the supplier will donate the monetary equivalent of at least one meal ($0.10) on behalf of a Feeding America member food bank, up to applicable limits.
• Donate money to your local Feeding America food bank at participating Sam’s Club and Walmart stores in the U.S.
• Donate at feedingamerica.org/Walmart.

Walmart kick-started the campaign with a $3 million donation to Feeding America and member food banks including St. Mary’s A purchase of one of the 267 participating items helps secure the equivalent of one meal. Each Walmart and Sam’s Club will partner with at least one Feeding America local food bank, and the 18 participating suppliers include: Bush Brothers, Campbell’s, Conagra Brands, Cliff Bar, General Mills, Gold Peak Tea, Great Value, Hidden Valley, JM Smucker, Kellogg, Kraft Heinz, McCormick, Motts, PepsiCo, Post, Uncle Ben’s, Nature Nate’s Honey and Unilever.

“In addition to the millions of pounds of food that Walmart and Sam’s Clubs in Arizona have donated to us, proceeds from the FHSC campaign helps fund some of our most successful client programs,” St. Mary’s Food Bank President and CEO Tom Kertis said. “We thank Walmart for their great support and invite everyone to take part in this easy and effective way to make a difference.”

“As we go into our sixth year of the ‘Fight Hunger. Spark Change.’ campaign, it’s exciting to approach the 1 billion mark in terms of charitable meals secured for Feeding America over the life of the program,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, chief sustainability officer for Walmart. “Food insecurity continues to affect communities across the United States. Working with Feeding America, our customers, members, associates and suppliers, Walmart and Sam’s Club aim to be part of the solution.”

To learn more about the campaign visit www.walmart.com/fighthunger.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]