LOS ANGELES, CA: The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank has received $225,000 grant for its Holiday BackPack and Kids Cafe programs from Walmart Foundation. The grant will provide enough food for 270,000 meals for an estimated 15,000 students in 20 low-income schools and 25 youth program sites in Los Angeles County who would not have access to nutritious meals over the two-week holiday break. This grant will expand the Holiday BackPack program from eight schools to 20 schools.
The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank’s Holiday Backpack Program helps children who reside in low-income neighborhoods and who are eligible for free meals during the week through the National School Lunch Program. Many low-income families struggle to provide the nutritious foods children need during the two-week holiday break and the Holiday BackPack Program is designed to address this gap in services.
“We greatly appreciate Walmart and the Walmart Foundation’s commitment and leadership to end hunger in Los Angeles County,” said Michael Flood, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. “Walmart acted immediately when they learned about our immediate needs this holiday season to provide nutritious food to 15,000 students in 45 schools and youth programs who would otherwise struggle to have meals during the two week holiday break.”
Walmart is also providing an opportunity for Los Angeles area “fans” to support their region to receive up to a $1 million grant for hunger relief this holiday season in a Facebook campaign. Through December 31, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are encouraging people around the nation to cast their vote on http://fightinghunger.walmart.com choosing from a list of 100 communities where hunger rates are the highest. The community with the most online support will receive $1 million in grants and the next five communities with the highest support will receive $100,000 each to help fight hunger.
“We are committed to ending hunger in Los Angeles and throughout the country,” said Kimberly Sentovich, Senior Vice President for Walmart. “Through our partnership with the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, we want to provide solutions to kids who don’t have access to healthy, nutritious food.”
The most recent food security report from the USDA depicts hunger as a challenge so significant that it can only be solved if government, corporations and community organizations work together. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committed to applying its unique business strengths to address the growing problem of hunger.
Walmart has recently announced a $2 billion commitment to help end hunger in America. Through the “Fighting Hunger Together” initiative, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will give $250 million in grants to hunger relief organizations and donate more than 1.1 billion pounds of food from Walmart stores, distribution centers and Sam’s Club locations, valued at $1.75 billion.
India Post News Service
