Island Harvest in Running for Walmart Grant

Mineola-based Island Harvest is in the running for a share of a $3 million grant from the Walmart Foundation and all readers have to do is vote.

As part of the Fighting Hunger Together initiative focused on reducing hunger across the nation, the Arkansas-based retailer and its leading grocery suppliers have joined forces to engage millions of customers and Walmart associates this spring and bring much needed food and funding to nonprofit organizations that work to fight hunger.

According to the latest data from the USDA, more than 50 million Americans live in food insecure households, and more than 16 million of those impacted are children. To address this issue, the Fighting Hunger Together initiative will partner with Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger relief charity, to deliver $3 million in grants for hunger programs and generate more than 35 million meals for local Feeding America food banks and their partner agencies across the U.S.

“An astonishing 1 in 5 children in America are food insecure, not knowing, at some point during the year, where their next meal will come from, and as the nation’s largest grocer, we have a responsibility to help change this reality,” Walmart Foundation senior director Julie Gehrki said in a statement. “With this initiative, we are working to help families across the U.S. by generating meals and awarding grants to local food banks and agencies to support hunger relief programs, including backpack programs providing vitals meals to children when they are out of school, and community gardens teaching families how to grow their own healthy foods.”

The public will have the opportunity to join the fight against hunger and help distribute grants to local communities across the country. Ways to participate include: 

Vote – Customers and Walmart associates can visit www.walmart.com/hunger and cast one vote per day for a Feeding America food bank or partner agency in local communities across the country. The winning 100 organizations, which will be announced in May, will share $3 million in grants to fund hunger relief programs. 

Volunteer – Customers and associates can pledge to volunteer at their local food bank by visiting www.walmart.com/hunger. 

In addition, from April 1 through August 31, Walmart associates can volunteer at food banks and other hunger relief organizations and compete for a chance to select an organization in their community to receive a $5,000 grant, as part of Volunteerism Goes Viral.

“The Fighting Hunger Together initiative is a truly unique program that ignites support for our nationwide network of food banks and their partner feeding agencies at a time when the need is great," said Bob Aiken, president and CEO of Feeding America. "The spring months can be an especially challenging time for our food banks, when food donations can be very low. Walmart’s Fighting Hunger Together initiative creates an easy, yet effective, way for people around the country to help those in need. Last year, for example, the April and September initiatives generated meals for key programs like afterschool and summer feeding programs and classes that teach families how to prepare healthy meals at home.”

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