Walmart Foundation Gives $2 Million to Help Food Banks Go Green

January 20, 2011

The Walmart Foundation is donating $2 million to help 16 regional food banks save money on their energy bills through simple and relatively low-cost upgrades to lighting, refrigeration or heating and air conditioning equipment.

walmart exterior Annually, the grants are expected to help food banks save more than $625,000 in energy costs, which is enough to buy more than 390,000 pounds of food and serve 300,000 more meals, Walmart said in a statement. The project expects to reduce overall energy use by more than 5.2 million kilowatt hours, enough to power more than 400 homes for a year, or enough to remove more than 700 vehicles from the road for a year, or the equivalent of avoiding more than 3,700 metric tons of carbon emissions, the company reported using the EPA calculator.

“These grants underscore Walmart’s commitment to lead on both hunger relief and sustainability,” said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation. “Every dollar these food banks save on energy costs is another dollar they can use to help meet the hunger needs of their local communities.”

This initiative is a part of Walmart’s commitment to fighting hunger. In May, the retailer and the Walmart Foundation announced a $2 billion cash and in-kind commitment through the end of 2015, including:

Donating more than 1.1 billion pounds of food from Walmart stores, distribution centers and Sam’s Club locations, valued at $1.75 billion;
Giving $250 million in grants to support hunger relief organizations at the national, state and local levels;
Collaborating with government, food manufacturers and other corporations that are fighting hunger to increase impact and reach a greater number of families in need.

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Keywords: energy conservation, energy reduction

Comments (2) - Post a Comment

I think it's a great thing that Walmart is doing, helping people to eat better, and giving back to the community, what a blessing !

Pastor E Miller at 5:45pm EDT - September 4, 2011

how does one apply for a grant and what kind of grants are availalble?

Darlene at 11:23pm EDT - March 29, 2012

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