Springfield, IL (July 12, 2018) – Central Illinois Foodbank, Walmart and Feeding America® are extending their thanks to everyone who helped raise nearly $100,000 for the estimated 100,000 people – including 32,000 children – who struggle with food insecurity in central and southern Illinois as part of the 5th annual “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign this April.
“By working with Walmart, its 14 supplier partners and Synchrony Bank, we had an amazing opportunity to make progress towards fighting hunger in our community,” said Pam Molitoris, executive director of Central Illinois Foodbank. “This campaign helped increase awareness about the issue of hunger in America, allowing us to secure more local funds and ultimately provide more food to people in our service area. We hope people across the 21 counties we serve realize how important their participation was in this year’s campaign.”
Walmart, Feeding America and Central Illinois Foodbank exceeded the total meal goal for the 2018 anti-hunger campaign and want to extend a huge “thank you” to everyone who participated in the campaign to help raise more money and meals than ever before!
The fifth annual “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign kicked off on April 2 and ended on April 30. Walmart and Feeding America doubled their meal goal to at least 200 million meals. With the help of new partner Nextdoor, customers, suppliers, and Synchrony Bank, the final meal count was more than 230 million meals nationally.
“Because of the generous support of our suppliers, customers and associates, food banks will be able to do even more this year to help families who are struggling,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Walmart. “We are passionate about fighting hunger, and through this campaign, we have taken another significant step to breaking down the barriers that prevent families from enjoying ready access to healthier, nutritious food.”
To learn more about the campaign, visit www.walmart.com/fighthunger.
To download video and photos from the nationwide campaign, visit https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom and https://news.walmart.com/videos/walmart-customers-and-feeding-america-secure-230-million-meals-for-fight-hunger-spark-change for a recap video of the campaign.