Peapod Bowls Against Hunger

Online grocer Peapod has rolled out the “Holiday Turkey Bowling – Strike Out Hunger” initiative to continue its support of local communities. When visiting the Peapod website, customers can choose their own turkey to be bowled down a virtual bowling alley for charity. For every turkey bowled, Peapod will donate $1, up to $15,000 to food banks serving its delivery areas.

Through a combination of digital programs such as Holiday Turkey Bowling and on-the-ground grass-roots events, Peapod expects to donate more than $62,000 this year to fight hunger in its delivery areas, which encompass Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Illinois; Indiana; Massachusetts; Maryland; New York; New Jersey; Rhode Island; Pennsylvania; Virginia; and Wisconsin.

“We’ve been very successful in engaging our communities -- both online and off -- to become enthusiastic partners in our fundraising efforts,” noted Peg Merzbacher, director of marketing for Peapod, a division of Quincy, Ill.-based Ahold USA. “Whether via Facebook, our website or even in person, we’re committed to finding ways to help our local food banks.”

Peapod’s recent Facebook Fall Fan Food Drive donated $1 for every new “like” the e-grocer’s Facebook page received. Simultaneously, Peapod enabled shoppers to take part in a Virtual Food Drive on its website to donate groceries to food pantries in the regions it serves, for a total of $12,500 in food and financial donations.

The online grocer’s offline programs include:

• “Kids Give Back,” which enables schoolchildren to learn about nutrition, practice applicable math skills and find out how they can make a positive impact on their community. Peapod donates up to $500 in store credit that students use to make contributions to local food banks.
• "Peapod Community Days," which helps local food banks get a large donation of items to be distributed to their respective communities. Peapod teams with town mayors to deliver items to the food banks, where they are joined by community members to assist in carrying the groceries inside. Most recently, food banks in the New Jersey towns of Mahwah, Toms River and Parsippany participated in the program.

“We enjoy working with our local Peapod partners because they always bring creative ideas to raise both funds and awareness for the need to support regional food banks,” said Heather Burns of the Thomaston Food Pantry in Thomaston, Conn.

Skokie, Ill.-based Peapod will continue to donate to food banks throughout the remainder of 2012, particularly during the holidays.