Courtesy of Feeding America Southwest Virginia

Walmart, and the Walmart Foundation, The Band Perry, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and four of the nation’s food companies – General Mills, ConAgra Foods, Kraft Foods and Kellogg Company – announced they have come together to fight hunger this spring. The campaign, Fighting Hunger Together, provides opportunity for people to help feed the hungry in their community by simply shopping at Walmart or visiting the company’s Facebook page today through April 30.

Walmart’s Fighting Hunger Together Facebook campaign encourages the public to help them select one community to receive a $1 million grant and 20 runner-up communities to each receive a $50,000 grant. The grants will be awarded to the area’s hunger relief organizations. Walmart selected the 200 communities based on their unemployment rate according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Unemployment Rates for Metropolitan Areas. As of January 2012, Danville, Virginia had an unemployment rate of 8.9 and is the only community in Virginia that is eligible for the voting. If Danville is awarded one of the grants, Feeding America Southwest Virginia would be one of the beneficiaries.

Customers visiting Walmart stores in Southwest Virginia can also help by dropping non-perishable food items in donation bins located at the front of the stores. The most needed items include canned vegetables, meats, fruits, peanut butter, soups, hot and cold cereals and 100 percent juice. As part of this campaign, customers can generate additional meals for the hungry by purchasing one or more participating products and then entering the product codes online, sharing a hashtag on Twitter or scanning a QR code.

“Walmart has been a long supporter of our mission to Fight Hunger and Change Lives in Southwest Virginia. We are very blessed to once again benefit from the generosity of Walmart’s employees and customers. According to the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, Danville is ranked as the second poorest community in Virginia. Almost 20,000 people in Danville are at risk for hunger. Every person can help fight hunger and change lives by visiting Walmart’s Facebook page daily now through April 30 to vote for Danville, Virginia. Walmart customers can also help by donating non-perishable food items and purchasing products from the participating food vendors”, said Pamela Irvine, President and CEO of Feeding America Southwest Virginia.

To participate in the Facebook campaign visit www.facebook.com/walmart. To learn more about the campaign including details on participating products, click here.

Submitted by Feeding America Southwest Virginia.