Type to search

Featured Retail

Walmart delivers $1.5M in donations to Food Bank of Puerto Rico

Walmart Puerto Rico has made a donation of 36 containers of food and essential items valued at $1.5 million to the Food Bank of Puerto Rico, which will be distributed among different entities.

The items are already being delivered
to senior, children and mental health centers; nonprofit organizations that
serve people with disabilities, the homeless and people in rehabilitation; correctional
complexes and community-based organizations that provide social services, among
others. In addition, groceries were distributed to federal employees who, due
to the government shutdown had not received their salary for a month.

“Fighting hunger is one of
our company’s priorities, so we have a close collaboration with the Food Bank
of Puerto Rico to reach thousands of homes across organizations they serve
through its various programs,” said Viviana Mercado, senior manager of
corporate affairs at Walmart Puerto Rico.

“These thousands of pounds goods
constitute an additional contribution to the donations that since 2009 our
company, through our Walmart, Sam’s Club and Amigo formats, has delivered
weekly to the charity. Knowing that we are helping those in need fills us with
satisfaction,” she said.

The Food Bank of Puerto Rico,
whose mission is to meet the needs of people suffering from food insecurity
through 138 nonprofit organizations, serves different populations that do not
have the financial resources to buy food for their homes. The organization
distributes annually an average of 5.3 million pounds and serves more than
123,000 people.  

Currently, it is estimated that
in Puerto Rico more than 1.6 million people live below the poverty level, which
means that nearly 50 percent of the population suffers from food insecurity.

It is also estimated that
approximately 52 percent of children under 18 in Puerto Rico live below the poverty
level, so thousands of children go to sleep without eating.

In October 2014, Walmart
announced a commitment to creating a more sustainable food system focused on
improving the affordability of food by reducing the “real cost” of
food for both customers and the environment, increase access to food and
facilitate healthy eating, and improve security and transparency of the food
chain.

This commitment includes the
goal of providing 4 billion meals for those fighting hunger in the United
States and Puerto Rico in 2020.

Author Details
Author Details
This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
Tags:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *