Spark Change Campaign Returns to California’s Southeastern Desert Region to Help People Facing Hunger Taking place in stores, clubs and online, the 12th annual campaign supports local hunger relief efforts
For the 12th straight year, all U.S. Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations are launching the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign, including right here in California’s Southeastern Desert Region.
The goal of the annual cause marketing campaign is to provide people facing hunger with access to the food and resources they say they need to thrive. Here’s how it works:
The campaign will run in stores and online from March 1 – March 31, with three ways for shoppers to participate:
– By donating at check-out in stores or clubs or round up at Walmart.com and the Walmart app.
– By purchasing participating products* in-store or online at Walmart.com or SamsClub.com. For every purchase of a participating product, the supplier will donate the monetary equivalent** of at least one meal ($0.10) on behalf of a Feeding America partner food bank at Walmart and five meals ($0.50) at Sam’s Club, up to applicable limits. See specially marked packages for full details.
– By donating at Feeding America’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign donation site at either www.feedingamerica.org/walmart or www.feedingamerica.org/samsclub.
Since its inception in 2014, the campaign has generated more than $206 million and helped secure 2 billion meals* for the Feeding America network of local food banks.
“For our community, here in the desert, 1 out of every 6 people are at risk of being food insecure,” said Debbie Espinosa, FIND Food Bank’s President and CEO. “At FIND Food Bank, we want to ensure that each one of our community members know where their next meal is coming from.”
Everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, and in every community in America, people are working hard to provide for themselves and their families. Yet in 2023, 47.4 million people experienced food insecurity in the U.S.
Those are the highest numbers in a decade, underscoring the need for more charitable food assistance in Coachella Valley and beyond.
“For the past 20 years, Feeding America, Walmart and Sam’s Club have worked together to fight hunger and help people live better in the communities we serve,” said Julie Gehrki, president, Walmart Foundation and senior vice president, philanthropy at Walmart. “During the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign, we invite our customers and members to join us in providing access to food for our neighbors by supporting FIND Food Bank.”
The 24 participating suppliers for Walmart include: B&G Foods, Inc., Bush Brothers & Company, Celsius, The Coca-Cola Company, Conagra Foods, Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, Ferrero USA, General Mills, Hershey Salty Snacks, Kellanova, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Kodiak, Kraft Heinz, Lipton Tea, Ben’s Original, Materne, Mondelez International, Olipop, Pepsi-Cola Advertising & Marketing, Inc., Hidden Valley Original Ranch, The Hain Celestial Group, WK Kellogg Co, Unilever and Utz Quality Foods
The six participating suppliers for Sam’s Club include: Kellanova, Kodiak, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Nestlé and Unilever
For more information, visit: feedingamerica.org/campaigns/fight-hunger-spark-change
*Currently, $1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local partner food banks.
** For every purchase of a participating product, the supplier will donate the monetary equivalent of at least one meal ($0.10) on behalf of a Feeding America partner food bank at Walmart and five meals ($0.50) at Sam’s Club, up to applicable limits. See specially marked packages for full details.
About FIND Food Bank:
Founded in 1983, FIND Food Bank is the Desert’s Regional Food Bank serving over 10,000 square miles, including eastern Riverside and southern San Bernardino Counties, from the Hi-Desert and Joshua Tree across the Coachella Valley to Anza, down to the Salton Sea and the border of California and Arizona. FIND is the largest hunger-relief and food rescue organization in the region. They are the Feeding America member food bank for California’s Southeastern Desert Region and recognized as the USDA distributor for eastern Riverside by the County of Riverside. They are also recognized by the State of California as the regional Disaster Response food bank. FIND’s mission is to End Hunger Today, Tomorrow, and For a Lifetime.
To end hunger for Today, FIND currently feeds an average of 125,000 individuals, families, children, and seniors each month. Their 175 distribution sites include almost 100 non-profit community partners (soup kitchens, religious organizations, local food pantries, and more) and 46 free Community Mobile Markets that serve food deserts and low-income areas. FIND’s distribution center, strategically located in Indio, helps ensure equitable food distribution for all. To end hunger for Tomorrow, FIND offers outreach services that connect residents to benefits programs that improve financial security. FIND works to End Hunger for a Lifetime by identifying the root causes of hunger to break cycles of food insecurity to achieve self-sufficiency.
