Last updated on October 27th, 2016 at 10:50 am
The Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) is encouraging consumers statewide to bag hunger in their neighborhoods by shopping at participating retailers during the 2016 Bag Hunger Campaign. All food and monetary contributions collected in-store will go to local food banks and shelves to benefit hungry Minnesota families.
Bag Hunger is a three-way partnership with grocers, vendors and consumers aimed at increasing donations to Minnesota food shelves. MGA coordinates the program across the state and has more than 275 retail participants and 10 vendor partners. Since 2008, MGA’s hunger campaigns have provided 34 million meals to families in Minnesota and has set a goal of 11 million meals for 2016, bringing our total support to 45 million meals.
“Our grocers and vendor partners share consumers’ concerns for providing food and necessities to local families in need,” said MGA President Jamie Pfuhl. “The participating retailers and vendors are proud to bring the Bag Hunger Campaign to our communities, to help increase donations to their local food shelves and to benefit area families during difficult economic times.”
Grocers and vendor partners will offer many ways for consumers to “bag hunger” in their communities, including some of the following options:
• Food drive—Buy items in the store and donate them to local food shelves;
• In-Store promotions—Purchase specially marked items and vendor partners will donate an additional monetary amount to local food shelves; and
• “I Bagged Hunger” icons—Customers may contribute to food shelves at the register and sign a grocery list icon that will be displayed prominently in the store.
The Bag Hunger Campaign will actively drive the program online and via social media. The public website mngrocers.com will have live links to participating vendor and retail websites encouraging consumers to support sponsoring companies and assist in a statewide fight to bag hunger by shopping for products identified by the Bag Hunger logo at their local grocers. There also will be a link to allow the public to donate to their community food support agency. The campaign will be on Twitter and Facebook, using the name @MNGrocers to track the program’s progress of reaching 11 million meals.
“During this time of economic challenge, the Bag Hunger Campaign provides an excellent opportunity to increase awareness of a social issue that affects all of our communities,” said Pfuhl. “By raising funds, increasing public support and promoting local food shelf donations, the Minnesota food industry and consumers truly can make a difference in the fight to end hunger.”
