Walmart Responds to Food Bank Need

Walmart has increased its food donations and stepped up campaigns to increase access to food as it has seen increasing need during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Walmart launched the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign to give customers a way to help pitch in. Between now and mid-June, customers will have the opportunity to support their community’s Feeding America member food bank by rounding up their online totals to the nearest dollar when making a purchase on Walmart.com.

In fiscal year 2020, Walmart donated more than 585 million pounds of food to food banks around the country, and the retailer has increased these donations in recent months as need increased and shopper behavior changed, resulting in a surplus of produce.

In April, Walmart donated 85 truckloads of food, in addition to its normal donations, to organizations helping feed individuals and families during the crisis, while Sam’s Club donated more than 84,000 pounds of produce to support health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak. 

"To say we just dropped off truckloads of food does not do justice to the incredible efforts of our associates across Walmart and Sam’s Club, or to the food bank community that has made this possible," wrote Charles Redfield, EVP, food, Walmart U.S., and Russell Mounce, SVP, fresh, Sam’s Club in a company blog post. "You see, coordinating an effort of this scale takes significant planning and a lot of folks moving fast to make it happen."

In March, the Walmart Foundation committed $10 million in response to the pandemic to organizations helping increase food access, including $5 million to Feeding America.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart operates more than 11,300 stores under 58 banners in 27 countries, and e-commerce websites, employing 2.2 million-plus associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's list of the top food retailers in North America, while Walmart-owned Sam's Club ranks No. 9 on the list.