Food Lion volunteers aim to pack 1 million meals to fight hunger
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- More than 200 Food Lion employees gathered at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina Tuesday as part of a statewide effort to help provide one million meals to families in need.
The Food Lion Feeds volunteer event was one of several held across North Carolina, with more than 600 Food Lion associates working at sites in Raleigh, Durham, the Sandhills, New Bern and other communities. Inside the Food Bank's Raleigh warehouse and community garden, volunteers bagged fruits and vegetables that will be distributed to families facing food insecurity.
A Food Lion spokesperson said the company sees events like this as an important part of its mission. "We believe nobody should have to choose between dinner and rent and gas and groceries. And I think a lot of our volunteers like the gravitate towards that. At Food Lion, we kind of want to nourish our towns and cities," said David Hardee, community relations specialist.
Hardee said the annual volunteer day is one of the most meaningful events for employees. "Our associates is at the heart of it," he said. "It's really good to have volunteers who love to come out here and work and provide meals for people that are (food) insecure."
Some volunteers also worked in the food bank's community garden. Hardee said the effort brings a sense of pride.
"I think all in all, just having them doing this great work, knowing that they provide nourishment and meals for people, I think is just a great overall feeling and just good teamwork kind of environment," Hardee said.
Across all locations, volunteers looked to generate more than one million meals in under three hours. Last year, the effort produced 900,000 meals. This year's goal was one million. Hardee said the company is already looking ahead to the 2027 effort.
"We are always goal setting here at Food Lion. And so yeah, we'll see what we can do next year," he said.
Food Lion plans to surpass the one million meal mark in 2027.
