Jewel-Osco’s Nourishing Neighbors Program Gives More Than $230,000 Grant to Salvation Army
The Salvation Army recently received a grant for just over $230,000 from Nourishing Neighbors. The grant was made possible by generous customers who visited Jewel-Osco stores throughout the Chicagoland area during September and donated at checkout to help provide healthy breakfasts for children. As the charitable partner for these Jewel-Osco locations, The Salvation Army is pleased to receive all of the funds collected from customers during the fundraiser. We plan to use the funds to support the Army’s youth feeding programs.
Some of those meals will be distributed through our Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which provide children from low-income families with at least one third of their daily meals, as well as a healthy snack.
These funds will also support the more than 25 food pantries The Salvation Army operates throughout the greater Chicagoland area, 19 of them in the same neighborhoods as Jewel-Osco stores that generated these funds. These panties provide shelf-stable items, breads, cereals, dairy, meat, and occasional treats on a weekly or monthly basis (more often during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic).
Leslie, a single mom of three kids, visited The Salvation Army’s food pantry after the restaurant she worked at closed its door due to the pandemic and she lost her job. Leslie shared, “I was totally unprepared for this!” Without income, Leslie couldn’t afford groceries to feed her children. The Salvation Army offered staples like cereals, bread, and milk, and filled a big box to help her feed her kids the most important meal of the day – breakfast!
Nourishing Neighbors is a charitable program of Jewel-Osco Foundation. The program aims to eradicate childhood hunger in America by keeping food banks stocked and supporting meal distribution programs at schools. In 2020, Nourishing Neighbors enabled 350 million meals, invested $10.4 million in schools to feed kids, and provided $9 million towards empowering BIPOC communities through hunger programs.
This is the second year in a row The Salvation Army received this grant. Jewel-Osco increased the assigned number of store locations for this fundraiser from 40 to 70, which helped increase this year’s total by $82,000. The Salvation Army is proud to partner with Nourishing Neighbors to help fight hunger issues in our community, especially for our youngest neighbors.