Company : Brookshire Grocery Company
Program category : Food Insecurity

Origins:

Food 2 Families is a partnership between Brookshire Grocery Company’s Reasor’s banner of 17 Tulsa-area stores and local news station KJRH 2, an affiliate of NBC. Reasor’s and KJRH 2 partner together each year to conduct the Food 2 Families food drive supporting the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, a member of Feeding America. Each year, the Food 2 Families food drive kicks off in mid-November and runs through mid-December. During the four-week campaign, Reasor’s and Channel 2 encourage customers and members of the community to drop off nonperishable foods or purchase $15 bags of the food bank’s most needed items. The bags can be purchased either in-store or online, and donations of any amount can be made at Reasor’s store registers.

Contribution:

Community participation in this campaign was phenomenal this past year, raising more than $126,000 in Reasor’s 17 stores from donation cards and bag sales alone! In addition to the community’s involvement, Brookshire Grocery Company and Reasor’s donated another $24,000 to bring the grand total to $150,000 for the 2022 Food 2 Families donation to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. The total was revealed during a check presentation at the one-year anniversary celebration of Reasor’s joining BGC. Earlier in the year, BGC and its Reasor's banner, together with Anheuser-Busch, made a $50,000 donation to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. Since 1988, BGC has partnered with its supplier community for an annual charitable golf tournament that has raised more than $8.7 million to benefit local nonprofits and programs that assist with critical needs like hunger relief. The $50,000 donation was a result of this golf tournament, with Anheuser-Busch contributing $25,000 and BGC matching with an additional $25,000. BGC also partnered with Hormel Foods to donate 720 Hormel Cure 81 Hams to the food bank through the 2022 Hams for Hunger program.

Objectives:

The objective of the Food 2 Families program is to assist the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and its partner agencies, and ultimately to provide wholesome food for the many people they serve who are at risk for food insecurity. All nonperishable food items and monetary donations to the Food 2 Families program go to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, which works with a network of more than 400 partner programs in 24 counties in eastern Oklahoma. These programs include food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, child feeding programs, senior feeding programs, and veteran’s initiatives. Through this network, the food bank provides more than 500,000 meals per week to people at risk for food insecurity. Oklahoma is one of only five states with a food insecurity rate above 14.5%, and Feeding America projects that it will climb to 22.5% in the coming years. One in six of the state’s population is considered food insecure. The goal of Reasor's Food 2 Families program, combined with its other efforts that benefit the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma throughout the year, is to help provide relief and resources for the food bank and its agencies to help feed people in need.

Impact:

In 2022 alone, the Food 2 Families food drive raised $150,000 for the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, bringing the total raised by BGC and its Reasor’s banner, in collaboration with their media, vendor and community partners, to more than $200,000 for the year. This equates to 50,000 meals for people at risk for food insecurity, based on the food bank’s ability to provide four meals for families in need for every $1 donated. This is in addition to the more than 900,000 pounds of food Reasor’s donated to the food bank over the past year and the 720 Hormel Cure 81 Hams donated through BGC’s partnership with Hormel Foods’ Hams for Hunger program.

Quote:

“We are proud to support the great work of the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and appreciate everyone’s support of programs like Food 2 Families that help feed local families in need,” said Brad Brookshire, Chairman and CEO for Brookshire Grocery Company.

Support Statement:

“Food insecurity continues to impact over a half-million Oklahomans each year,” said Calvin Moore, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. “One in six Oklahomans are facing hunger. The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is grateful to work with partners like Brookshire Grocery Company and Reasor’s so we can make a significant and immediate difference in the lives of families and individuals in need. Every campaign with BGC and Reasor’s has been a tremendous success, helping several thousand people facing hunger in Oklahoma.”