BRAMPTON, ON, Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw") advanced its purpose-led commitment to help Canadians live life well, with a new pledge to provide 1 billion pounds of food to those in need by 2028. It is generally understood that one pound of food equates to one meal1, which illustrates the impact of the commitment and the level of community need.
"Our Feed More Families pledge builds from our work to advance social equity and fight climate change — inspired specifically by our progress on community-level food donations and eliminating food waste," said Galen Weston, President and Chairman, Loblaw Companies Limited. "The commitment to 1 billion pounds will require contributions from across our store network, and will help strengthen the capabilities of food charities at a local level."
The Feed More Families pledge will help tackle multiple societal concerns: food insecurity is up 35% since 20192, with 6.7 million Canadians now using non-profit food services annually3; and, food loss and waste represents nearly 60% of the food industry's environmental footprint.4
Loblaw provides more than $40 million in annual fundraising and financial support for food charities and reclamation agencies like Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest and Les Banques alimentaires du Québec. President's Choice Children's Charity has become the nation's leading non-government provider of in-school hunger and nutrition programs, with a goal of feeding one million children annually.
Feed More Families activities will include regular awareness and fundraising campaigns for food banks and food recovery agencies, and a concerted effort to pair all stores in the Loblaw network that sell food with a local food charity that can put good food to use, before it becomes waste.
To kick off the Feed More Families pledge, Loblaw provided five grants totaling $200,000 to food banks across Canada to increase their capacity to reclaim food. On #GivingTuesday, the company provided its food charity partners the opportunity to 'take over' its PC Optimum platform with a fundraising appeal – an effort that saw Canadians donate over $25,000 and over 37 million PC Optimum™ points to Food Banks Canada and Second Harvest, to go alongside a $350,000 donation from Loblaw ($175,000 to each partner). And the company's grocery stores are currently in the midst of their annual nationwide food drive in support of local food banks, running until December 24.
Progress against the Feed More Families pledge will be included in the company's annual ESG Report, available at Loblaw.ca, beginning in 2023.
Source : Newswire.ca