Raley's Food for Families program is celebrating its 40th anniversary of providing donations to food banks.
Jocelyn Lantrip, the Director of Marketing for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, says, "Our partnership with the Raley's and Raley's Food For Families has been going on for years and years and years, and it's a very important one."
Lantrip says Food for Families helps them a lot when it comes to putting food on families' tables.
"When you're donating at the register, that does turn into real food that comes out here to the Food Bank," she said.
The Food for Families program was started in 1986. They work with several different food sourcing programs and food charities throughout northern and central California and northern and central Nevada, working with food banks to collect donations for families.
Jason Principe, the store team leader at the Raley's in Fernley, says, "One of the great things about Food for Families is any donation that happens here at a Raley's or local stores stays in that community, so any donations, for example, here in Fernley, are going to stay in this Fernley community."
The store team leader says he has seen a difference in the community with this program, because wherever you donate stays local.
"We're a big supporter of Share Your Christmas, which we just had the Food Banks and the charities here for, and people came by to donate food and monetary donations, and here in Fernley, we actually had an incentive program for Food for Families—bears—we were very successful, one of the top stores in the entire company. We raised thousands of dollars just through the bears," he said.
The Food Bank says Raley's really helps them during the holidays, and they also provide fresh produce for the Food Bank.
During the government shutdown, Raley's gave the Food Bank a percentage of what they made over the weekend. So this partnership is really impactful.
Lantrip says, "There are a lot of ways Raley's has supported us for a long time, and this isn't our Food Bank, it's the community's Food Bank, and having meaningful, really committed corporate partners is everything."
Here's how it works. Food for Families food comes to the Food Bank, then the Food Bank sends it out to the other 145 agencies. Again, Raley's serves California and Nevada. So the food and services reach a lot of people in and out of the area.
If you want to donate to Food for Families, there are several ways you can do it, one being at checkout, or you can donate online by clicking here.
Principe says, "For the people who have already made an impact, thank you so much; we can't do this without you. Raley's has raised over $80 million and millions of pounds of food."
He also says, "If you want to donate, the easiest way is to come on down to the store, and when you're buying your groceries, if you want to kick in a dollar, that's the easiest way to do it. We can do it right at the checkout, and it's a great thing, and Raley's is a family-owned company, and they have a lot of those family-owned values."
It's important to note that the need in northern Nevada is tremendous, as the Food Bank is helping over 160,000 people per month.
Lantrip says, "We just like to thank the community for everything they've done throughout the holiday season. We saw tremendous support. Unfortunately, the need for our services is not over, and we will continue to ask for help, whether it be money, food, or volunteering, and we really appreciate the community."
Even though the holidays are over, the Food Bank still needs volunteer help to sort everything, and you can sign up to help by clicking the link here.
