FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 1, 2020
CONTACT:
Meredith Gremel, Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Communications, 616-878-2830
Partnership provides thousands of gallons of milk to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – As part of its commitment to building stronger communities, SpartanNash has partnered with Borden Dairy to distribute 57,600 servings of milk to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan for those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The milk was recently delivered to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and distributed to the food bank’s network of 400 partner agencies across 22 counties.
Borden Dairy is distributing fresh milk to nonprofits through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which is part of the Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program (CFAP).
“Throughout this pandemic, SpartanNash has remained committed to our local communities and supporting them through partnerships and programs such as this one,” SpartanNash Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications and Executive Director of the SpartanNash Foundation Meredith Gremel said. “As the nation’s fifth largest food distributor and a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries around the world, we know the importance of food, medicine and other grocery essentials, and we are proud to help provide fresh milk to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and the families it serves during these most uncertain times.”
SpartanNash has partnered with the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan for nearly 10 years on a number of events and donations. In late 2015 and early 2016, SpartanNash hosted a water drive to help Flint, Mich. residents have access to safe drinking water. In total, 1.3 million bottles of water – or 40 semi-truck loads – of water were donated to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and distributed in the local community. SpartanNash also hosts the popular Reds, Whites and Brews wine and beer event each year, which has raised more than $50,000 for the food bank.
“We’re grateful to have long-time partners like SpartanNash to help establish new relationships for the Food Bank,” Food Bank of Eastern Michigan President Kara Ross said. “Having access to nutritious, fresh milk through Borden Dairy will allow us to support increased mobile food distributions during this difficult time of job loss with the health crisis as well as families affected by flooding in multiple counties of our service area.”
In April, SpartanNash and the SpartanNash Foundation granted $250,000 to 19 Feeding America affiliates, providing between 750,000 and 2.5 million meals depending on affiliate location to families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, SpartanNash donates more than 5.5 million pounds of food annually to partnering food banks and local food pantries and funded more than $1.4 million in community support in 2019.
Borden Dairy received the USDA’s largest award under the Farmers to Families Food Box Program and plans to distribute a total of 700 million servings of milk in the Southeast, Southwest and Midwest regions, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
“Teaming with SpartanNash enables Borden to expand our footprint to new states and supply fresh milk to even more families who have been affected by COVID-19,” said Borden CEO Tony Sarsam. “We applaud SpartanNash for their commitment to helping Borden make nutrition convenient and accessible to communities throughout the Midwest.”
For all of SpartanNash’s ongoing efforts, visit: spartannash.com/spartannash-coronavirus-updates.
###
About SpartanNash
SpartanNash (Nasdaq: SPTN) is a Fortune 400 company whose core businesses include distributing grocery products to a diverse group of independent and chain retailers, its corporate-owned retail stores and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges; as well as operating a premier fresh produce distribution network. SpartanNash serves customer locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Bahrain, Djibouti and Egypt. SpartanNash currently operates 155 supermarkets, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets, D&W Fresh Market, VG’s Grocery and Dan’s Supermarket. Through its MDV military division, SpartanNash is a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries.