Montana Albertsons/Safeway Donated Over $200k to MT Food Bank Network in 2020

Through COVID relief funds, Foundation grants, event sponsorship, and its store-based Nourishing Neighbors program, Albertsons/Safeway donated $234,101 to Montana Food Bank Network in 2020 to help with hunger-relief efforts across the state.

In 2020, thousands of Montanans accessed emergency food assistance for the first time due to COVID-related reduction in work hours or loss of jobs. During this difficult time, Albertsons/Safeway stepped in and provided funds toward multiple hunger-relief programs operated by Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN). The Albertsons Companies Foundation was one of the first organizations to offer COVID relief funds to MFBN in the pandemic’s early days, providing a $50,000 gift that helped keep food on the shelves of food pantries across the state. Albertsons/Safeway saw first-hand what many experienced when the pandemic first impacted Montanans: empty grocery store shelves resulting in less available food for many households and less product available to donate to MFBN’s Grocery Rescue program that connects leftover food from grocery stores with local food pantries.

As the COVID crisis continued, Albertsons/Safeway launched its in-store Nourishing Neighbors campaign that works to help ensure those dealing with food insecurity during the pandemic have access to healthy meals. Through this customer-driven donation campaign, Montana Albertsons and Safeway stores donated $52,782.68 to Montana Food Bank Network. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 6 Montana children experienced food insecurity. However, Feeding America, the national hunger-fighting organization, estimates a 36% increase in Montana children living in food-insecure homes in 2020. Funds from the Nourishing Neighbors program support MFBN’s work in reducing childhood food insecurity in Montana.

Albertsons/Safeway also launched a grant program focused on the needs of marginalized communities that have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19. In Montana, COVID-19 mortality rates for Native Americans are nearly 12 times higher than rates for non-Hispanic white residents, according to an October 2020 by the state Office of Epidemiology and Scientific Support.

Albertsons/Safeway marginalized communities grant provided $53,000 to support MFBN’s BackPack program in schools on and around the Blackfeet and Northern Cheyenne Reservations, ensuring that children have food to eat on weekends when away from school meals.

“Albertsons, Safeway and MFBN have been working together to end hunger for over 20 years and we are so grateful to have such a strong statewide partner that truly believes in our mission,” says Gayle Carlson, CEO of Montana Food Bank Network. “In a year where our communities needed to rally together to help our neighbors, Albertsons/Safeway really stepped up and offered generous support to Montanans.”