Ralphs teams up with Martha Stewart to pack meals and provide $100,000 grant to Los Angeles Mission.
The Sunday of the Superbowl is the second largest food consumption day of the year behind Thanksgiving, yet one in eight Americans struggle with hunger. This year a grocery chain, a celebrity, and a community came together to give back to the community they live, work, and play in. Ralphs, a division of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), is joining Zero Hunger | Zero Waste by Kroger and Martha Stewart to Team Up to End Hunger by packing 200 nutritious meal boxes and presenting a $100,000 grant benefitting Los Angeles Mission. Kroger, along with Martha Stewart hosted an event this morning benefiting the LA Mission just prior to the Superbowl hosted in LA. The donation will provide nearly 40,000 meals for the homeless and hungry in LA.
Chef Erik Grant of the Los Angeles Mission told Fox 11, “We have a huge food shortage, the rising costs of food, and we have over 50,000 who are homeless. We’ve teamed up with Kroger Foods who has been so generous to provide 40,000 meals and a $100,000 donation to help us.”
Grant is a graduate of the Los Angeles Mission’s recovery program and now leads the Mission’s food and kitchen efforts to feed 600,000 people a year through its Race to Feed Campaign. The Race to Feed campaign came about through the pandemic, as food insecurity and need grew exponentially across the poor of LA. The campaign is providing meals not only on Skid Row but across LA into Compton, Watts, and South LA. Grant continued, “This contribution is right on time.” He continued sharing with Fox 11, “The fact that Kroger is willing to step up…is so important…the key here is that there is hope in a meal.”
Supporting faith based recovery in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Mission is a Chrisitan faith-based organization, homeless shelter, and transitional housing recovery program for men and women in LA since 1936.
Marth Stewart shared her desire to help those less fortunate when asked at the event, “There are people going hungry in this fabulous country of America, and you know what, that’s a big problem. No one should go hungry in America, no one.”
“While much of Southern California’s focus will be on supporting our hometown team during the Big Game and enjoying gameday favorite snacks and meals, we cannot overlook the fact that so many in our communities are going without a meal, not just today, but every day,” said Kendra Doyel, Vice President – Merchandising at Ralphs. “The Team Up to End Hunger campaign keeps the focus on helping our neighbors and supporting our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social and environmental impact plan.”
Throughout 2021, Ralphs donated more than $3 million and rescued more than six million pounds of food for hunger relief organizations across Southern California equating to more than 17.5 million meals back to the communities the company serves.
The event will feature Martha Stewart Kitchen, made in partnership with Marquee Brands, which is distributed throughout the U.S., and can be found in Ralphs stores throughout Southern California. Martha Stewart Kitchen offers more than 40 products from frozen entrees and desserts to appetizers, side dishes, ready-to-heat grain blends, and seasonal vegetables. Martha and her team of culinary experts curated the Martha Stewart Kitchen collection of signature recipes to offer consumers convenient meal solutions featuring superior ingredients and flavors. Martha’s favorite recipes are conveniently and expertly prepared for everyday enjoyment or entertaining.
Martha Stewart Kitchen has partnered with Feeding America to help support people in the United States facing hunger gain access to healthy, complete meals. Martha Stewart Kitchen has committed to providing a minimum donation of 1,500,000 meals through its partnership with Feeding America to assist families facing hunger across the nation.
KTLA provided a great overview of the fundraiser/party for a cause here:
