The Montgomery Area Food Bank (MAFB) announces a 1 million dollar grant from Walmart Foundation and Feeding America®, part of a continuing, multi-year partnership to strengthen food banks and agency partners in rural communities and communities of color disproportionately affected by food insecurity.
The Montgomery Area Food Bank will use the funding to purchase supplies and equipment for its partner agencies and affiliated food banks to increase the amount of food distributed to 35 counties across Alabama. MAFB serves over 231,000 Alabamians fighting hunger and food insecurity through four affiliated food banks and over 700 agencies. While MAFB distributed over 25 million pounds of food last year, the need is even greater.
The Retail Agency Capacity Building Grants were awarded to a total of 20 Feeding America partner food banks to enhance retail rescue programs in which fresh, frozen and shelf-stable foods are donated by grocers for pickup by food banks and agency partners.
With the Walmart Foundation and Feeding America grant funding, food banks and agencies will increase the number of weekly food pickups through the purchase of new equipment like refrigerated vans, freezers and forklifts. Grant funding will also help food banks and agencies add resources like staffing, training and new technology.
“Local food banks are key to making retail food rescue programs successful and expanding access to healthy food for people in our communities, which is why it’s so important to invest in their ability to innovate and efficiently pick up food donations,” said Julie Gehrki, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Walmart Foundation. “The Walmart Foundation’s investment builds on our continued support of the Feeding America network as we work together to strengthen the charitable meal system and end hunger.”
For nearly 20 years, Walmart, the Walmart Foundation and Sam’s Club have revolutionized food banking and transformed retail rescue in partnership with Feeding America, local food banks and partner agencies to provide fresh, nourishing food to people facing hunger in communities nationwide. To build and ensure sustainable capacity in local communities, Walmart Foundation has funded more than 200 vehicles to help with local food recovery efforts, invested in critical research to identify opportunities to capture more surplus food and provided millions of dollars in grants to build infrastructure to more equitably serve neighbors in need. As Feeding America’s largest food donors, Walmart and Sam’s Club have donated more than 7.5 billion pounds of food since 2006.