Sept. 1 was National Food Bank Day, and the partnership between Meijer and Kent State University can help people support Kent State’s Flashes Fighting Hunger just by doing their weekly grocery shopping.
The Stow Meijer is partnering with Flashes Fighting Hunger to help fight the impact that rising food prices have on students and families in the Kent community. This year, the store announced Kent State as one of its Simply Give partners. Simply Give is Meijer’s customer-driven program whose goal is to help stock local food pantries. The program encourages customers to purchase a $10 Simply Give donation card that is converted into Meijer food-only gift cards. These cards are then donated to local food pantries – like Flashes Fighting Hunger – to keep them stocked with the food they need.
“The relationship with Kent State is something that Meijer has shown dedication to,” Senior Director, Community Engaged Learning and External Relations, Amanda Woodyard, said.
Being part of this program will not only help stock Kent State’s food pantries but also help the food pantries cater to people with dietary needs.
“We hope to be able to cater to individuals that might have specific dietary needs or restrictions," Woodyard said. "And just really support a variety of diets. I think it is unique and helpful to be able to create a pantry program where individuals utilizing the resources can also have a say in the kinds of resources that they're getting."
For four years Meijer has partnered with Kent State. This partnership has included things such as food programming with the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, donating supplies needed for service events and partnering with the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Part of Kent State's Community Engaged Learning, Flashes Fighting Hunger is a student-powered and volunteer-driven organization dedicated to reducing food waste and promoting food insecurity. It hosts multiple food pantries across campus, including a mobile food pantry.
“This will allow us to purchase more food items to be able to fully utilize our mobile pantry,” Woodyard said.
In 2022, Flashes Fighting Hunger gave out more than 130,000 pounds of food through the on-campus food pantry program and served more than 1,000 households throughout the county.
This partnership with Meijer means that Flashes Fighting Hunger can continue to help students and families in the community who are facing food insecurity.
From now until Sept. 30, shoppers at the Stow Meijer, 4303 Kent Road, have the opportunity to purchase a Simply Give card that will then be donated to Flashes Fighting Hunger.
On Sept. 9, Meijer will double match the Simply Give donation cards that are purchased. Customers can purchase Simply Give donation cards in person or as an add-on to their order when shopping online.
LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING AND ITS PROGRAMS
WRITTEN BY:TANNER POE, FLASH COMMUNICATIONS