Company : Associated Food Stores, Macey's
Program category : Food Insecurity

Origins:

1 in 3 Utah kids do not know where their next meal is coming from. That's why Macey's, Utah Food Bank, and Just Serve (operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) have worked together for Utah's largest food drive, Feed Utah. This Food Drive utilizes Macey's and Lin's Market locations as drop off points, in 2024 surmounting in over 780,000 lbs of food. Associated Retail Operations donated 1.7 million door hangers, one for each doorstep in the state of Utah, delivered by Just Serve volunteers encouraging Utahns to place food donations on their porch. Just serve volunteers then collected food and distributed it to collection points, either food pantries or our store locations.

Contribution:

- Hundreds of volunteers with Just Serve distributed 1.7 million door hangers, and, collected massive amounts of food delivering it to either Macey's, Lin's, or community food pantries across the state.
- At ARO stores, over 780,000 lbs of food was collected. -KSL News donated media and air time to ensure the state participates. -Governor Cox was an advocate for the event with a kick-off press conference.
- Associated Retail Operations donated 1.7 million door hangers, used our Lin's and Macey's locations as collection points, advertised the event and donated the time of our team to help collect food.
- Associated Food Stores donated a fleet of drivers to help collect and distribute food to local food pantries.

Objectives:

- Collect as much food as possible to help those in Utah who are food insecure.
- Raise awareness of food insecurity in the state of Utah

Impact:

2024 was a very impactful year for Feed Utah. In 2023, our stores collected 210,000 lbs of food. 13,000 Utahns are at risk of missing a meal today. This event helps stock local pantries to assist with food insecurity in our state. The amount of food collected at our stores alone equals 652,688 meals, or 75 years of food for a family of 8.

Quote:

According to David Rice, President & CEO of Associated Food Stores, “As a locally owned company, we truly care about the communities we serve. Food isn’t a choice—it’s a necessity. We know food insecurity has always been a concern in our communities, especially when it comes to Utah’s youth. We’re grateful to be in a position to help make a difference for our neighbors who have the most need by participating in the Feed Utah food drive.”

Support Statement:

“Hunger is an ongoing issue here in our state, and one entity can’t take care of all of them. It has to be a partnership and there has to be collaboration, and Utah Food Bank is so appreciative of everyone, including Associated Food Stores who participated with Feed Utah,” she said. “There were a lot of people that were involved that handled a lot of food. From the Utah Food Bank to all of them, a heartfelt ‘thank you’ for their help in joining us in the fight against hunger.” Ginette Bott, president and CEO of Utah Food Bank