Food Lion hosts volunteer events in 6 North Carolina locations, tackling food insecurity

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Supermarket chain Food Lion organized a massive volunteer day in North Carolina on Tuesday, benefiting the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

About 500 volunteers participated at six different locations, making it the single-largest volunteer event for the supermarket.

One of those locations was here in Raleigh. The volunteers, divided into three groups, worked in the garden, bagged apples, and packed food in the warehouse. This event alone is expect provide 600,000 meals for North Carolinians facing food insecurity.

“Unfortunately, food insecurity is worse than it’s been in nearly 20 years,” Amy Beros, the president and CEO of the Food Bank, said. “There’s one in seven people, one in five children, over 560,000 people. And out of 34 counties are worried about their next meal. And a day like today is going to make a huge difference.”

David Garris, the vice president at Food Lion’s mid-Atlantic division, expressed his belief in the community’s willingness to help, saying, “I believe in North Carolina…people will want to do their part. People don’t want to see people go hungry. And so if I can help, we can help be part of the message that gets out there to educate fellow North Carolinians.”

With North Carolina’s rich agricultural resources, over 50% of the food distributed from the food bank is fresh fruit and produce.