Organizations in Charlotte and Greensboro will expand their operations as part of academic research project
SALISBURY, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation has donated $100,000 to fund two mobile grocery markets in the Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. communities. The foundation awarded funding to two organizations to expand operations for their mobile markets, in a pilot project for Food Lion Feeds. The grant recipients are The Bulb, in Charlotte, N.C., and Mobile Oasis, in Greensboro, N.C. These two grants were awarded in conjunction with the University at Buffalo research team’s Veggie Van project, which studies the long-term impact access to fresh produce has on eating habits and nutrition.
The Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation has been studying the work of mobile produce markets as a way to help make a larger impact on food insecurity in the towns and cities Food Lion serves. Earlier this year, members of the foundation attended the mobile produce market summit where they met with the University at Buffalo’s research team and learned of the Veggie Van Project.
“This generous grant from the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation will enable us to increase access to healthy, nutritious food, while also gathering learnings to help inform us moving forward,” said Lucia Leone, assistant professor of community health and health behavior in UB’s School of Health and Health Professions. “We want to know if having these mobile markets in communities that have limited access to fresh produce leads to changes in what people are eating.”
“The Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation proudly partners with Food Lion Feeds to fund these two programs in support of our hunger-relief mission,” said Adam Bass, president of the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation. “Not only will this work allow us to bring more healthy food to people in underserved communities in North Carolina, but it will provide important information on whether mobile markets work and in what settings.”
Since its founding, the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation has donated more than $12 million to support hunger-relief and nutrition education programs, including more than $4.7 million to Feeding America member food banks and United Way agencies who are critical partners in ending hunger in the towns and cities Food Lion serves across its 10-state operating area.
Food Lion launched Food Lion Feeds, its hunger-relief platform, in 2014 and donated its 500 millionth meal earlier this year. To learn more about Food Lion Feeds, visit www.foodlion.com/feeds.
About the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation
The Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C. Established in 2001, the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation provides financial support for programs and organizations dedicated to eliminating hunger. The charitable foundation has provided more than $12 million in grant funding helping to nourish communities with fresh food for backpack programs, Kids Café’s, and other hunger-relief programs as well as funding for long-term programs to help shorten the lines at food banks. The charitable foundation partners with Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief agency, in addition to local food agencies serving the 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in which Food Lion operates. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com/feeds.
About Food Lion
Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has donated more than 500 million meals to individuals and families since 2014. Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Royal Ahold Delhaize Group. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com.
Contacts
Emma Inman, APR
704-245-3317
emma.inman@foodlion.com
