WESTBOROUGH, Mass. & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States, today announced a $50,000 donation to Philabundance, a Feeding America® member food bank. The donation from the BJ’s Charitable Foundation is part of the retailer’s initiative to help end hunger in Pennsylvania.
“BJ’s is dedicated to nourishing our communities and helping families thrive by improving access to basic essentials including fresh, nutritious food,” said Kirk Saville, executive director, BJ’s Charitable Foundation. “We’re thrilled to donate $50,000 to Philabundance to support its BackPack program. This grant will help increase access and feed more families in food insecure communities.”
BJ’s grant to Philabundance is part of its recent $1 million donation to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. The donation will support programs that expand direct access to food, including the School Pantry, mobile market and BackPack programs. With these programs, families facing food insecurity will be able to more easily access fresh, nutritious food to help put meals on the table.
“Philabundance serves 90,000 people each week and a staggering 30 percent are children. After school and over the weekend, these kids may not know where their next meal will come from, or if they will have one at all,” said Glenn Bergman, Executive Director of Philabundance. “With BJ’s generous support, we will be able to increase the amount of fresh, healthy food Philabundance can provide to kids and their families, and to other neighbors in need.”
BJ’s donation supports Philabundance’s partnership with Kids Against Hunger Philadelphia, which provides four meal kits and a pound a fresh produce in every BackPack for food-insecure children at partners schools and community centers. Each meal kit provides six prepared servings, for a total of 24 servings per BackPack, to help provide wholesome food to children and families in need.
BJ’s grant marks the third yearly $1 million donation to the Feeding America network from the BJ’s Charitable Foundation. Since 2011, BJ’s has provided ongoing support to the Feeding America network through the BJ’s Charitable Foundation and BJ’s Feeding Communities program, helping local food banks successfully expand their programs to reach wider audiences.
BJ’s Feeding Communities program is a food rescue partnership, where the company donates all unsold perishable food to Feeding America member food banks in its footprint, helping to get wholesome food onto the plates of more families. To date, BJ’s has donated more than 100 million pounds of food including meat, produce, dairy and bakery items – which equals more than 84 million meals* – to Feeding America member food banks.
To learn more about BJ's Wholesale Club, visit BJs.com.
*Based on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, a meal is equal to 1.2 pounds of food and grocery product.
About BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
Headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, BJ's Wholesale Club is a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States. The company currently operates 217 clubs and 143 BJ's Gas® locations in 17 states.
The Company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BJ).
About Philabundance
Philabundance is the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization. For 35 years, it has focused on providing emergency food to those in need. In 2018, it relieved hunger by distributing more than 26 million pounds of food through a network of 350 member agencies. In 2019, it began partnerships with critical services providers, offering food coupled with other services to end hunger for good. Philabundance serves more than 90,000 people each week, 30 percent of whom are children, 16 percent of whom are seniors, and other clients include college students, single parents and the working class. Give now or learn more at Philabundance.org.
