Albertsons donates $14M to fight hunger

Albertsons Cos. Foundation has announced $14 million worth of new hunger-relief grants.

The grants include almost $4 million for 13 large grants to organizations across the United States as part of Nourishing Neighbors’ new innovation grant program, which awards grants up to $500,000 to organizations with innovative projects or new ideas for eradicating hunger.

“The Nourishing Neighbors Innovation Grants are for organizations that we believe can have a transformative impact on hunger relief,” said Christy Duncan Anderson, president and executive director of Albertsons Cos. Foundation. “Their innovative ideas range from creating greater buying power for nonprofits to furthering SNAP outreach. We’re excited to help their innovative ideas come to fruition.”

Grant recipients were selected from more than 500 applicants by a committee consisting of Albertsons Cos. Foundation staff, board members and the Foundation’s five partner organizations. The organizations below were selected for their innovative ideas that have the potential for wide-reaching impact by scaling to other organizations:

• Campaign to End Childhood Hunger — California: Plans to implement improved policies to maximize the ability of Pandemic-EBT to feed low-income children and establish a Summer EBT program in California.
• D.C. Hunger Solutions: Is convening a College Hunger Task Force to address college student food insecurity, collect data on post-COVID student hunger, and develop resources based on the Task Force’s findings.
• End Hunger Connecticut: Will use the grant funds to create a buying group for nonprofit organizations throughout the state to leverage their buying power.
• Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning: Expects to educate students on hunger issues by creating a National middle-school program on the topic of hunger.
• The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank: Hopes to implement Feeding Everyone with Equity and Dignity program, utilizing Oasis Insights database technology to help clientele of nonprofit organizations maximize the services available to them.
• Maryland Hunger Solutions: Is expanding their remote Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach capacity in the state of Maryland.
• mRelief: Will expand the use of digital tools to simplify the SNAP application process.
• New Hope Community Ministries: Looks forward to starting a buying club to help reduce purchasing costs and increase food access to more residents.
• Northwest Harvest: Plans to launch a leadership program for people who have experienced hunger through their Campaign for Food as a Human Right.
• Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon: Wants to start a food assistance program for vulnerable groups who don’t currently have access to federal hunger-relief programs.
• Vouchers 4 Veggies (San Francisco General Hospital Foundation — fiscal sponsor): Will implement a produce debit card that would allow for widespread adoption of produce prescription programs.
• The Denver Health Foundation: Will develop a process to facilitate co-enrollment in WIC and SNAP during regularly scheduled clinical visits.
• Virginia Poverty Law: Hopes to use the grant to create a SNAP hotline and maintain their current SNAP calculator and benefits estimator.

In addition to the innovation grants, Nourishing Neighbors is awarding grants of up to $100,000 to more than 140 organizations serving marginalized and vulnerable populations. These grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations who serve in communities where Albertsons Cos. operates and are dedicated to eradicating hunger in BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), either by increasing capacity to serve or better understanding of the needs of the community. Interested organizations can review the grant application requirements on the Albertsons Cos. Foundation website.

The funds for these grants come from the $53 million Albertsons Cos. committed earlier this year to the Nourishing Neighbors community relief initiative to address increasing hunger issues caused by the pandemic.

Nourishing Neighbors is a charitable program of the Albertsons Cos. Foundation, which is working to eradicate hunger in America.

Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons operates 2,252 retail stores with 1,725 pharmacies, 398 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 20 manufacturing facilities. The company’s stores predominantly operate under the banners Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street and Haggen.