Words by Smiley Team
The Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation - a charity founded in 2018 to keep communities free from hunger and waste - has announced the creation of an Emergency COVID-19 response to help those families being disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The new fund, created by Kroger and its charitable Foundation, aims to direct $10 million in local, state and national grants to pandemic response efforts.
Each year, in the U.S $218 billion a year is spent growing, processing, transporting and disposing of food that is never eaten. At the same time, thousands of families across the country experience food poverty, with 1 in 8 Americans experiencing hunger. Thus the Foundation was launched as a way to tackle this, providing funds for innovation and emergency relief.
"Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan is our commitment to help create communities free of hunger and waste—and never has this mission been more important. In response to the overwhelming outreach from our partners and customers who want to support our mission, we're providing new ways to meaningfully give back in stores and online during this unprecedented time." said Keith Dailey, Kroger's group vice president of corporate affairs.
Kroger have additionally have also accelerated their giving, providing $3 million equally distributed between Feeding American and No Kid Hungry as well as $250,000 to Meals on Wheels America, $250,000 to the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, $200,000 to the Sunshine Division Emergency Food Box Program and $50,000 to help Benefits Data Trust. Each of these organisations has seen an increase in demand for their services as the pandemic hits those who were already vulnerable the hardest and the fund helps ensure these services remain open.
Kroger and The Foundation have also launched new charitable giving platforms, enabling their customers to easily give back to their communities in meaningful ways. At 2,8000 Kroger stores, customers are able to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar with the money going towards the relief fund.
You are also able to directly give to the charity via ZeroHungerZeroWasteFoundation.org
By Ellen Jones
