Food Lion plans to donate $600K to hunger relief efforts amid pandemic

The Food Lion grocery store chain said Tuesday that it plans to donate $600,000 to feed students, seniors and others affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the money, $500,000, will be provided to community partners in towns and cities with Food Lion locations. These funds will go to feed students who depend on school meals, seniors with “limited resources” and others in need. 

The money will be used to deliver food and supplies to seniors, provide students with meals while schools are closed, and “other activities as needed to help relieve the burden of this pandemic in the towns and cities Food Lion serves.”

The other $100,000 will go to Feeding America’s efforts to respond to the coronavirus crisis in the U.S.

Food Lion estimates the funds will provide 6 million meals. 

“Nourishing our neighbors is core to everything we do, and we know that many of our neighbors have been tremendously impacted by the recent school and business closures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic,” Food Lion President Meg Ham said in a statement Tuesday. 

“Hunger is a lot closer than you think, and that’s why we’ve always been committed to fighting food insecurity in the towns and cities we serve,” she said. “That need is heightened right now, and we want our neighbors to know they can count on us during this unprecedented time.”

Food Lion stores are located in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. 

Food banks are reportedly struggling to keep up with the growing demand for supplies as its volunteer pool shrinks, The Washington Post reported last week. 

School closures and industry shutdowns have forced more people to turn to these sources for food, ramping up demand as unemployment claims continue to soar.