Walmart, the world’s largest retailer has been in the forefront of charitable activities from decades. In 2006, both Walmart and Sam’s Club joined together to donate food to local Feeding America member food banks in the local neighborhoods. In April 2022, they reached a huge milestone. Together, they have donated 7 billion pounds of food.
Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said that about 60 million people looked at the charitable food system, for help during one year of the pandemic. The CEO added that their network had provided 6.6 billion meals.
The food banks CEO also said that they had an “extraordinary partnership with Walmart and Sam’s Club.” These two major retailers in the nation partnered together to become “the largest donor of food in our whole network.”
Walmart has a total of 4,742 stores in the U.S. as of January 31, 2022 according to the website Statista. Sam’s Club has nearly 600 clubs in the nation including Puerto Rico, according to its website.
In a corporate release Julie Gehrki, who is the Vice President of Philanthropy at Walmart announced the milestone and thanked associates who not only started the program but also worked continuously to “give back in each of our communities across the country.”
The VP also mentioned The Fight Hunger Spark Change, another program that is different from the Feeding America partnership, which was launched nine years ago. This program brings awareness about hunger issues within its communities. The program has associates, customers, members and suppliers as partners who donate meals to the hungry.
The VP also mentioned other ways through which the Bentonville, Arkansas based retailer was tackling hunger issues in the nation. They included access to low cost nutritious foods at Walmart stores. These foods were also available online, pickup and delivery.
The company blog post also added that Walmart supported organizations who developed innovative approaches to food access and who increased “people’s confidence in eating healthier meals,” through philanthropy.
