Winn-Dixie Pledges Support for Florida Food Banks

Local food banks, including Feeding South Florida, are preparing for the upcoming school year and the fight against childhood hunger. Winn-Dixie has launched the Summer Backpack Hunger Relief Program in all stores to help the one out of five children in Florida who don’t know from where their next meal will come.

Customers are encouraged to donate at any store register July 16 through August 19 to help provide meals for healthy minds and bodies to thrive in the classroom. Every dollar donated will go directly to regional food banks to help fill backpacks with nutritious, fresh foods. Give a dollar. Help fill a backpack.

“As a community food provider, no issue touches the heart of our customers and associates more than childhood hunger,” said Rondel Hartwell, Winn-Dixie’s director of community involvement and charitable giving. “It’s our belief that no child should ever go hungry and that every child deserves nutritious meals and a healthy start to life.”

Added Hartwell, “the Winn-Dixie Summer Backpack Hunger Relief Program provides a quick and easy way for our communities to help give hungry children a nutritious meal.”

The 18 food banks benefitting from the Winn-Dixie Summer Backpack Hunger Relief Program include:

• America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, Inc. Savannah, Ga.
• Feeding Northeast Florida Jacksonville, Fla.
• Feeding America Tampa Bay Tampa, Fla.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida Orlando, Fla.
• All Faiths Food Bank Sarasota, Fla.
• Food Bank of Manatee Bradenton, Fla.
• Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida Ft. Myers, Fla.
• Feeding South Florida Pembroke Park, Fla.
• Treasure Coast Food Bank Fort Pierce, Fla.
• America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend, Inc. Tallahassee, Fla.
• Bay Area Food Bank Theodore, Ala.
• Community Food Bank of Central Alabama Birmingham, Ala.
• Feeding the Valley Food Bank Columbus, Ga.
• Montgomery Area Food Bank Montgomery, Ala.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of South Georgia Valdosta, Ga.
• Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank Baton Rouge, La.
• Mississippi Food Network Jackson, Miss.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana New Orleans, La.

Winn-Dixie has a rich history of supporting its neighborhoods and communities through foundation and vendor supported charitable donations and programs. The company’s associates don’t just work in the stores; they live in these neighborhoods and are passionate about building stronger, healthier communities. Winn-Dixie encourages customers to address the childhood hunger needs in their communities by making donations at store registers as they complete their grocery shopping.

About Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is a subsidiary of Bi-Lo Holdings, which is the fifth-largest conventional supermarket in the United States based on store count. Founded in 1925, Winn-Dixie employs more than 48,000 associates who serve customers in 546 grocery stores and 418 in-store pharmacies throughout the five southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. For more information, please visit www.winn-dixie.com and www.biloholdings.com.