Food Lion Hunger Relief Day at state fair brings in tons for Food Bank of Delaware

Thanks to the generosity of Delaware State Fair visitors, organizers of the Second Annual Food Lion Hunger Relief Day collected 20,932 pounds of food, surpassing last year’s total by more than 5,000 pounds.

On July 22, visitors brought at least five Food Lion-brand canned goods in exchange for free gate admittance to the Delaware State Fair.

Volunteers from local Food Lion stores, Lake Forest School District, Delaware State Fair and the Food Bank of Delaware unloaded the cans into large brown boxes that were forklifted onto a Food Lion tractor trailer for delivery to the Food Bank of Delaware’s Milford branch.

“We are pleased with the overwhelming response that we received from fairgoers to help us fight hunger in Kent and Sussex counties,” said Bob Mills, Food Lion director of execution and implementation for the Dover area. “The donated food received through this effort will provide 17,443 meals for local families who are left with finding healthy food options to put on their tables.”

“The outpouring of support from our local community was truly inspiring,” said Milford Branch Director Chad Robinson. “The number of families and individuals who stopped by our collection table was amazing. By 4 p.m. on Monday we had already surpassed last year’s total. We are so thankful to Food Lion and the Delaware State Fair for this great community partnership.”

Donations received through the effort will assist families in Kent and Sussex counties struggling to put food on the table. Through its network of hunger-relief partners, the Food Bank of Delaware currently serves more than one in four Delaware residents.

For more information about the Delaware State Fair, visit www.delawarestatefair.com.  For more information about Food Lion, visit www.foodlion.com.

For more information about the Food Bank of Delaware go to www.fbd.org or call 302-292-1305.