Dallas, TX, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) announced today it has received a $1 million grant from Walmart Foundation and Feeding America®, part of an ongoing, multi-year partnership aimed at strengthening food banks and agency partners in rural and underserved communities affected by food insecurity.
The funding supported four NTFB partner pantries, helping them increase their capacity to collect food donations from local grocers and distribute them to families facing hunger. In the North Texas Food Bank’s 13-county service area, nearly 778,000 people face hunger, including 1 in 5 children.
"The North Texas Food Bank and our Feeding Network rely on the generosity of supporters like the Walmart Foundation to continue our fight against hunger," says Trisha Cunningham, President and CEO of NTFB. "By strengthening our network's capacity, we help our partners secure the resources that allow them to meet the needs of more neighbors in their communities. This generous grant will substantially increase the food available to the 1 in 7 individuals facing hunger in our area."
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. In total, $17 million was awarded to the 20 Feeding America food banks through the grant, including $6 million that was generously provided by the Walmart Foundation.
In North Texas, the grant has been distributed to the following organizations:
- Care Center Ministries: A 24-foot refrigerated truck.
- Christian Community Action: A 26-foot refrigerated truck and a produce cooler.
- Chocolate Mint Foundation: A 26-foot refrigerated truck and an electric forklift.
- White Rock Center of Hope: Two produce coolers, a refrigerated merchandiser, a freezer merchandiser, iPads, plastic grocery carts, picking carts, gondola shelving, and bins.
Merideth DePriest, Director of Operations and Development at Care Center Ministries, shared how the equipment will improve their ability to collect food from more distant stores, ensuring that food doesn't spoil during transit. She also expressed gratitude for the variety of food donated by Walmart, noting that store teams have even donated items like bicycles, vacuums, and fans for neighbors in need.
At Chocolate Mint Foundation, Director Tammy Green emphasized the importance of partnerships with retailers like Walmart. With the new truck, the organization can efficiently pick up larger quantities of food, and the forklift will allow volunteers to focus on serving their community rather than unloading food from trucks.
“The relationship with retailers like Walmart is crucial,” Green said. “It’s all about commitment and building relationships.”
The Walmart Foundation grants are part of an effort to increase the number of retail partners and expand food storage capacity in under-resourced areas, where food insecurity disproportionately impacts communities of color and rural populations.
“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,” says 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 two decades, 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, the 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 serve neighbors in need more equitably. As Feeding America’s largest food donors, Walmart and Sam’s Club have donated more than 7.5 billion pounds of food since 2006.
Over the last 20 years, Walmart, the Walmart Foundation and Sam’s have contributed more than 119 million pounds of food and nearly $3.5 million.
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About the North Texas Food Bank
The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) is a leading nonprofit organization that fights hunger and provides children, seniors and families in North Texas access to nutritious food. For over 40 years, we have been at the forefront of hunger relief, committed to ensuring that no one in our community lacks access to healthy food. Our extensive network of 500 food pantries and organizations, volunteers, and donors enables us to deliver more than 100 million nutritious meals annually to those in need. Beyond just addressing hunger, we focus on nourishing lives by offering nutrition education, investing in our network partners, innovating solutions to eliminate hunger and advocating for policies that tackle the root causes of food insecurity.
Our dedication to excellence is reflected in our 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, highlighting our strong governance, integrity, and financial stability. As a proud member of Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief network, we are committed to ensuring everyone in North Texas has the nourishment needed to lead a healthy and fulfilling life. For more information, visit www.ntfb.org or connect with us on social media @NorthTexasFoodBank.
About philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By focusing where the business has unique strengths, Walmart.org works to tackle key social and environmental issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change. Walmart has stores in 20 countries, employs more than 2 million associates and does business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, advance equity, address hunger, build inclusive economic opportunity for people in supply chains, protect and restore nature, reduce waste and emissions and build strong communities where Walmart operates. To learn more, visit www.walmart.org or connect on Twitter @Walmartorg.
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 5.2 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry.
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