BJ’s Wholesale Club gives $100K to Md. Food Bank

Listen to this article

BJ’s Wholesale Club announced Tuesday a $100,000 grant from the BJ’s Charitable Foundation to the Maryland Food Bank, a Feeding America member food bank. The donation will help the Maryland Food Bank’s agency partners increase their capacity to distribute perishable food across the region.

The grant is part of BJ’s Charitable Foundation’s $1 million donation to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. The Maryland Food Bank is one of nine local food banks to benefit from BJ’s $1 million donation, which is the foundation’s largest single donation to any organization to date.

The Maryland Food Bank will purchase a 16-foot box truck and lift gate to increase the efficiency of distributing larger amounts of fresh produce with the grant money. As a result, the Maryland Food Bank and its agency partners will be able to donate and distribute significantly greater amounts of food in high-need areas across 21 counties and Baltimore city.

In total, the Maryland Food Bank’s programs and network of partner agencies provide more than 112,000 meals each day to neighbors in need across Maryland. The Maryland Food Bank distributed 41 million meals last year through its programs and partners to continue to fight to end hunger in Maryland.

Since 2009, BJ’s has provided ongoing support to Feeding America through the BJ’s Charitable Foundation and BJ’s Feeding Communities program, helping local food banks successfully expand their programs to reach wider and more diverse audiences.

In addition to capacity building grants from the BJ’s Charitable Foundation, BJ’s has secured more than 50 million pounds of donated food, including fresh produce, frozen meats and fish, baked goods and dairy items through the BJ’s Feeding Communities program.

The Maryland Food Bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization, leading the movement to end hunger throughout Maryland. For more than 35 years, the Maryland Food Bank has partnered with communities across the state to distribute food to individuals and families in need. Through carefully-crafted programs, the food bank aims to meet the immediate needs of Marylanders while simultaneously working to find long term ways to reduce hunger statewide. The Maryland Food Bank currently distributes more than 112,000 meals per day, nearly 41 million meals annually.