As a participant in this campaign with Walmart, I have received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
My husband and I were raised by parents that didn’t have a lot of extra money to spare. We know what it was like to want things our parents couldn’t afford. Our own kids are very fortunate. We are able to provide for them and they enjoy lots of luxuries that we ourselves didn’t have while growing up. We are very grateful for the lifestyle we live and work very hard for it! It’s difficult to explain to children that not all kids live similar lifestyles. There are children that go without basic needs! I want to teach my children compassion and raise them give back. There are so many ways to help those that are less fortunate. In fact, even families that don’t have money to spare can help others with programs like Feeding America.
Now through May 3rd, customers can purchase participating items at Walmart stores to help secure meals for those that need them. For every product purchased and scanned at the register, 1 meal is secured on behalf of a local Feeding America food bank. The donation comes directly from the supplier (example: Cheerios = General Mills)
On May 4, Walmart will pull a sales report of total unit sales by store in all 50 states and provide to 6 suppliers and Feeding America. General Mills will write a check directly to Feeding America’s National Office for the dollar amount associated based on the Sales report (General Mills sells 1MM boxes of Cheerios $0.10 per a box => $100K to Feeding America)
In this example, Feeding America takes $100K from General Mills and divvys the donation among 200 Feeding America Food Banks based on number of Cheerios sold by store (based on zip code). Each store is tied to a Food Bank. Food Banks then use funds to “secure meals” (ie.Acquire food, pay for electricity, gas, transportation, operating costs).
I recently talked to my children about hunger and how some families struggle to provide meals for themselves. I told them that the could help by shopping for certain items at Walmart. Supplier partners include Unilever, General Mills, ConAgra, Campbell’s, Kellogg’s, Kraft. I explained to them that there are always ways to help, even if you’re struggling yourself. Some families may not have extra money in their food budget but with programs like Feeding America, they might be able to contribute by purchasing items their family needs that trigger the brand to make a donation. They had so much fun shopping and were so excited to be helping others at the same time. My youngest was at preschool while we shopped but as soon as we picked her up, my older kids told her all about the project!
You can even take the Feeding American project one step further if you’re able and donate the items purchased to your local food bank! This isn’t the ONLY way to give with the Feeding America program. There are actually THREE ways to contribute:
- 1 purchased item = 1 meal*
- Register giving ($1, $2, $5 or other) $1 helps provide 10 meals
- Social sharing 1x = 1 meal
*The monetary equivalent of meals will be donated. $0.10 is equivalent to one meal secured by Feeding AmericaⓇ on behalf of local member food banks. SeeWalmart.com/FightHunger for details.
Walmart is not responsible for donating the meals, the supplier partners listed above are responsible for that.
More about the Feeding America Mission:
The mission of Feeding America is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger. We do this by:
FEEDING THE HUNGRY: Obtaining nutritious food to feed more people more often
Feeding America has set a goal to source 3.6 billion meals annually by 2018–an increase of 1 billion meals over 2010. To accomplish this goal we are investing in the most cost efficient sources of healthy, in-demand food, including sourcing more fresh produce and increasing donations through retail stores.STRENGTHENING THE SYSTEM: Efficiently distributing food to those who need it most
To increase our network’s reach, it is crucial that we build the capacity of our food banks and agencies while bolstering feeding programs that efficiently distribute more food to more people. Through an investment in infrastructure, we are able to quickly and efficiently get the food we source into the homes of hungry Americans.LEADING THE NATION: Engaging our country in the fight against hunger
We can only end hunger when the American public is aware of the full extent of the problem and understands and recognizes the hidden face of hunger in America. By bringing the issue to the fore, we can engage the entire country and empower the public to join us in solving this crisis.
YOU can join the movement too! Visit Walmart.com/FightHunger to find a list of participating products and share via your social channels to trigger a donation. You can also follow the real time progress of the program reaching their goal of securing 75,000,000 meals.