SpartanNash Donates $70K to Food Pantries

To continue its efforts to fight hunger in the communities where SpartanNash associates live and work, the SpartanNash Foundation recently made a series of $5,000 donations to 14 food pantries in 13 states.

In total, $70,000 was donated to community food pantries located near SpartanNash’s food distribution and MDV distribution centers. Each SpartanNash distribution center selected its partner pantry, ensuring the financial support would have a significant local impact.

The food pantries chosen by the company’s distribution centers are:

·        Manna Food Bank (chosen by the Pensacola, Fla., DC)
·        Valley Rescue Mission (Columbus, Ga., DC)
·        Hoosier Hills Food Bank (Bloomington, Ind., DC)
·        Maryland Food Bank (Landover, Md., DC)
·        Caritas Emergency Services (St. Cloud, Minn., DC)
·        Robeson County Church and Community Center (Lumberton, N.C., DC)
·        Our Lady of Grace Food Pantry (Minot, N.D., DC)
·        Our Daily Bread (Bellefontaine, Ohio, DC)
·        West Ohio Food Bank (Lima, Ohio, DC)
·        Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City DC)
·        Feeding South Dakota (Sioux Falls, S.D., DC)
·        San Antonio Food Bank (San Antonio DC)
·        Bluefield Union Mission (Bluefield, Va., DC)
·        Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia (Norfolk, Va., DC)

“Donations like this support our foundation’s mission of ending hunger while also building relationships where they matter most – in our local communities,” said Meredith Gremel, VP of corporate affairs and communications and the executive director of the SpartanNash Foundation. “We are honored to be able to support these distribution center partner pantries and do our part to put food on people’s tables.”

For the past 12 years, the SpartanNash Foundation (and predecessor NFC Foundation) has supported local food banks during the holiday season, giving each SpartanNash distribution center the opportunity to personally select its partner pantry and provide food for those who need it most. Since 2004, the company’s distribution centers have donated nearly $1 million to community food bank and pantry partners.

SpartanNash distribution centers also support their local food banks throughout the year by donating food items and other goods. In 2015, SpartanNash donated 2.58 million pounds of food to food banks, churches, schools and other organizations serving those in need in our communities.

In September 2016, the SpartanNash Foundation also hosted a company-wide scan campaign. Store guests and company associates who visited any SpartanNash corporate-owned store during the 12-day retail scan campaign had the opportunity to donate $1, $5 or $10, with all proceeds going to support community food banks and pantries.

The scan was the most successful company-wide retail fundraising effort to date, raising nearly $300,000 on behalf of more than 100 local food pantries. Through the scan campaign to end hunger, the SpartanNash Foundation also provided $60,000 in donations to community food pantries located near its distribution centers in Fargo, N.D.; Omaha, Neb.; and Grand Rapids, Mich.

The SpartanNash Foundation, formed in 2013 following the merger of the Nash Finch Co. and Spartan Stores, is the charitable giving arm of SpartanNash. 

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based SpartanNash’s core businesses include distributing grocery products to independent grocery retailers, national accounts, its corporate-owned retail stores and U.S. military commissaries. SpartanNash serves customer locations in 47 states and the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Bahrain and Egypt. SpartanNash currently operates 157 supermarkets, primarily under the banners of Family Fare Supermarkets, Family Fresh Market, D&W Fresh Market and SunMart.