Giant Fundraiser: Grocer, Customers Raise $766K to Feed Children

Giant Food presents check to Baltimore County Schools to help address food insecurity among children.

Thanks to a Giant fundraiser, food insecure children in the Washington, D.C., area will be fed.

Giant Food, the leading D.C. regional grocery chain, has donated $765,977 to help address food insecurity among children within its local communities. From June 16 through August 7 of 2022, Giant held its brand-new customer giving campaign, Nourishing Our Youth. During the campaign, Giant customers were given the option to round up their grocery purchase to the nearest dollar to donate to their local public schools’ food programs.

All of the proceeds from the Giant fundraiser  were donated to local school districts so they may use the funds to best serve their community and support meal programs such as such covering outstanding student meal debt, expanding food distribution programs and building on-campus food pantries.

“We all know that children need nutritious meals to grow, learn and thrive. But too many children across our region struggle to receive a decent meal at lunch when attending school,” said Felis Andrade, director of external communications & community relations. “Through Giant’s Nourishing Our Youth program, we can give much-needed funds to school districts within our region to support their meal programs. We are incredibly grateful to our outstanding customers for their philanthropic support and thrilled to be able to donate these funds to our local school districts.”

According to Feeding America, over 9 million children, or 1 in 8, faced hunger in 2021. Research has also consistently demonstrated that good nutrition and the ability to learn are intrinsically connected. School food programs are critical to ensuring many children receive regular meals and Giant is committed to continuing to support food insecurity efforts for children throughout its region.

“Christina School District is beyond excited and thankful to have partnered with Giant Food for the 2022 Nourishing Our Youth Round Up Program,” said Andrea Solge, registered dietitian and child nutrition supervisor for the Christina School District. “Their generosity will assist in the fight against hunger within the Christina School District. There are many benefits to this program, but most importantly, providing increased access to meals by serving free breakfast and lunch daily to our students. Christina School District is grateful for this opportunity and for Giant Food’s support to fight against hunger in our community.”

Funds are being distributed to schools throughout October. For more information about the program, email NourishingOurYouth@cranecommunications.com.

Giant Food annually donates over 4.5 million pounds of food and $1 million in cash contributions to its five Feeding America food bank partners in an effort to eliminate hunger within its region. Giant offers an extensive account of its efforts throughout 2021 across areas of charitable giving, education, partnerships, innovation and development to be a Better Neighbor, which means being a Better Place to Shop and Better Place to Work within the greater DMV region, in its Better Neighbor Report. To view Giant’s Better Neighbor Report, visit https://giantfood.com/pages/better-neighbor-report.

For more information about Giant Food and all of its community giving programs, visit giantfood.com.

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