Grocery-selling retail giants sign on for major food drive

Three major retail companies are helping Food Banks Canada with a new initiative to help distribute more food bank supplies across the country.

Through the program, Brampton-based Loblaw Companies Limited, Mississauga-based Target Canada and Mississauga-based Walmart Canda will donate surplus food and household products to local food banks.

Canada’s largest grocer and the Canadian divisions of the retail chain giants will help with a significant increase in food bank usage across the country and help organizations that are currently struggling to acquire a consistent supply of quality food.

All three retailers sell groceries, so it is a logical fit that the companies would donate food to boost their corporate citizenship profiles.

“We’re thrilled that we have three leading retail partners launching this program with us,” Food Banks Canada executive director Katherine Schmidt said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time the three major local companies have made significant donations to the food bank community through organized programs.

In the last three years, Loblaws has donated $5.6 million and 6.3 million pounds of food through its Extra Helping Food Drive campaigns. The company has also contributed $1.2 million through corporate donations.

Last year, Walmart donated over $1 million and 160,000 pounds of food through various marketing campaigns.

Target donated over $243,000 to the food bank community as part of its Give with Target campaign and committed $656,000 over three years as part of their donation to Food Banks Canada programs.

“A retail food program is an ideal collaboration between grocery retail stores and local food banks,” The Mississauga Food Bank’s executive director Chris Hatch said in a press release. “We’re really grateful to Walmart, Target and Loblaw for their support and for the opportunity to work together to provide additional food to those in need in our community.”

According to an annual survey done by Food Banks Canada, nearly 900,000 Canadians rely on community food bank organizations each month.