Walmart Kicks Off 13th Annual Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign
In-store or online, North Texans can turn everyday shopping into meals for NTFB and its partners to provide to neighbors facing hunger.
Photo courtesy Adobe Stock.
Without the support of Walmart, Community Food Pantry of McKinney would not be able to serve the 10,000-plus neighbors who visit their pantry each month for support.
“The Walmart donations help us so much,” said Melody Krill, Executive Director of the pantry, which picks up donations of food twice each week from two different area Walmart stores. “We’re just so truly grateful for the partnership we have with Walmart. Thank you for helping us serve our community and being such an amazing partner.”
Community Food Pantry of McKinney is one of several North Texas Food Bank partners that receive regular donations of grocery items from their neighboring Walmart stores. From April 6 through May 3, Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations are also supporting North Texas neighbors through their 13th annual Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign.
Community Food Panty of McKinney picks up donations from the Walmart in Melissa.
During the annual campaign, shoppers online and in-store can fight hunger by rounding up their purchase at the register. They can also purchase specifically marked products to help provide meals to NTFB and its partners. Every designated item purchased at Walmart helps provide one meal and every item bought from Sam’s Club provides five meals. Donations can also be made online.
Any donation made in NTFB’s service area stays local and supports neighbors experiencing hunger in our community. In the 12 counties served by NTFB, 1 in 6 individuals—or more than 744,000 people—don’t always know where their next meal will come from.
“Each year, the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign reminds us that strong communities are built when neighbors support one another,” said Trisha Cunningham, President and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “The generosity of shoppers and the year-round support from Walmart and Sam’s Club help power our work every single day.”
Since its inception in 2014, the campaign has generated more than $227 million and helped secure more than 2 billion meals for the Feeding America network of local food banks, including NTFB.
Chuck Sparks, a Market People Partner in Dallas-Fort Worth, said the campaign speaks to the ethos of Walmart and its co-founder Helon Walton, who often reminded people that “it’s not what you gather but what you scatter that tells the kind of life you have lived.”
A neighbor shops at Community Food Pantry of McKinney.
Melody said that giving spirit radiates from everyone they encounter when picking up food from the stores.
“Everyone is always so kind and accommodating and you can just tell that they have servant’s hearts,” she said. “We are just so grateful to the people who work there, and we couldn’t do this without them.”
Neighbors, she said, feel the same way.
“The people we serve are just so incredibly grateful and they leave here with smiles on their faces,” she said.