More than $1 million in food and cash raised to fight hunger

Contact:
Eric Blom
207-885-3132

 

Hannaford Supermarkets and its customers recently donated $1.1 million dollars in nutritious food and cash to food banks and pantries throughout the Northeast, as the company concludes the 2017 Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger campaign.

 

The final installment of these donations – delivered by tractor-trailer to food banks in the five states served by Hannaford– comes at a time of year when food donations typically slow. Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger, a campaign held annually during the holiday season, has raised $10.1 million since the program began in 2008.

 

"Once again, customers showed their generosity through the Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger program, helping people who otherwise might not have enough nutritious food to eat," said Eric Blom, Hannaford spokesman. "These donations provide the equivalent of 4.4 million meals for people in our community and demonstrate what a difference we can make in individuals' lives when we work together."

 

The Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger Campaign had three parts:
• Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger Boxes: Customers purchased boxes of food staples for $10 and chose whether to have the box delivered to the local pantry or donated it personally.
• Register Donation: Customers donated money to their local food pantry, right at the register.
• Buy One, Give One: Hannaford donated specific products identical to those items purchased by customers during a four-week period.

 

Each Hannaford store determined what local food pantries to support. Stores competed with one another to encourage donations, and those supermarkets with the highest level of giving receive additional cash donations from Hannaford to be contributed locally.

Through the buy one, give-one program, Hannaford recently donated 39,622 pounds of nutritious food to the New Hampshire Food Bank, valued at $36,500.  Hannaford is making similar donations to food banks across the Northeast.

 

The buy one, give one donations -- delivered this month across five states -- included more than 105,000 boxes, cans and jars of pasta, beans, peas, corn, oat cereal and peanut butter. Earlier, the program donated more than 95,000 large boxes filled with food staples such as rice, canned fruit and vegetables, pasta, cereal and peanut butter, as well as thousands of dollars in cash donations.

 

“We are truly grateful for this continued support and partnership with Hannaford Supermarkets,” said Eileen Liponis, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank. “This donation will help ease the burden for many families in New Hampshire. This is a difficult time of year for many of the people we serve making the timing of this donation particularly impactful.”

 

The annual campaign builds of the work that local Hannaford stores and distribution centers participate in daily.  Hannaford donated more than 23 million pounds of rescued food to Northeast hunger relief in 2017.

 

About Hannaford Supermarkets
Hannaford Supermarkets, based in Scarborough, Maine, operates 181 stores in the Northeast. Stores are located in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Hannaford employs more than 27,000 associates. Additional information can be found at www.hannaford.com.