SALISBURY, N.C., Jan. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Throughout the 2024 collegiate football season, Food Lion Feeds’ annual Sack to Give Back program huddled with 35 collegiate institutions to help provide the equivalent of 793,000 meals*. For every quarterback sack made by a participating college or university, Food Lion Feeds donated the equivalent of 1,000 meals (up to 30,000 meals per school) to help nourish college students and address food insecurity. The effort benefits campus food pantries or affiliated Feeding America® partner food banks, where each school is located throughout Food Lion’s 10-state operating area. Food Lion Feeds was founded in 2014 by Food Lion to address food insecurity in the towns and cities it serves.
Since 2019, the Sack to Give Back program has resulted in the equivalent of more than 3.8 million meals* donated to local campus food pantries and food banks across Food Lion’s 10-state footprint. In 2024, the program included collegiate teams across Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
“At Food Lion, we believe no one should have to choose between dinner and rent or gas and groceries,” said Kevin Durkee, Manager, Food Lion Feeds, Food Lion. “We are committed to our collegiate partnerships and honored to partner with them to support their student food pantries, increasing access to nutritious food and setting students up for success.”
The Sack to Give Back campaign is one of many efforts that Food Lion Feeds leads in partnership with colleges. In addition to this collegiate effort, Food Lion Feeds also teams up with universities for its Score to Give More campaign which is currently underway, providing the equivalent of 100 meals (up to 30,000 meals per school) for every free throw made by participating institutions.
The Sack to Give Back participating schools and season totals include:
| School | School Location | Sacks / Meals Provided |
| Appalachian State University | Boone, NC | 23 sacks / 23,000 meals provided |
| Bluefield State University | Bluefield, WV | 13 sacks / 13,000 meals provided |
| Bowie State University | Bowie, MD | 17 sacks / 17,000 meals provided |
| Catawba College | Salisbury, NC | 17 sacks / 17,000 meals provided |
| Clemson University | Clemson, SC | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided + 10,000 meals** |
| Coastal Carolina University | Conway, SC | 28 sacks / 28,000 meals provided |
| East Carolina University | Greenville, NC | 20 sacks / 20,000 meals provided |
| Elizabeth City State University | Elizabeth City, NC | 22 sacks / 22,000 meals provided |
| Elon University | Elon, NC | 23 sacks / 23,000 meals provided |
| Fayetteville State University | Fayetteville, NC | 19 sacks / 19,000 meals provided |
| Georgia Southern University | Statesboro, GA | 17 sacks / 17,000 meals provided |
| Hampton University | Hampton, VA | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| James Madison University | Harrisonburg, VA | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| Johnson C. Smith University | Charlotte, NC | 12 sacks / 12,000 meals provided |
| Liberty University | Lynchburg, VA | 19 sacks / 19,000 meals provided |
| Lincoln University | Oxford, PA | 12 sacks / 12,000 meals provided |
| Livingstone College | Salisbury, NC | 25 sacks / 25,000 meals provided |
| North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University | Greensboro, NC | 19 sacks / 19,000 meals provided |
| North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC | 23 sacks / 23,000 meals provided |
| Old Dominion University | Norfolk, VA | 26 sacks / 26,000 meals provided |
| Shaw University | Raleigh, NC | 9 sacks / 9,000 meals provided |
| South Carolina State University | Orangeburg, SC | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| Towson University | Towson, MD | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| University of Delaware | Newark, DE | 28 sacks / 28,000 meals provided |
| University of Maryland | College Park, MD | 14 sacks / 14,000 meals provided |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| University of North Carolina at Pembroke | Pembroke, NC | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA | 19 sacks / 19,000 meals provided |
| Virginia State University | Petersburg, VA | 28 sacks / 28,000 meals provided |
| Virginia Tech University | Blacksburg, VA | 30 sacks / 30,000 meals provided |
| Virginia Union University | Richmond, VA | 17 sacks / 17,000 meals provided + 4,000 meals** |
| Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC | 20 sacks / 20,000 meals provided |
| The College of William and Mary | Williamsburg, VA | 21 sacks / 21,000 meals provided |
| Winston-Salem State University | Winston-Salem, NC | 18 sacks / 18,000 meals provided |
Through Food Lion Feeds, Food Lion has helped to provide more than 1.2 billion meals*** to individuals and families and has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Food Lion Feeds was founded in 2014 by Food Lion to address food insecurity in the towns and cities it serves. For more information on Food Lion Feeds’ commitment to ending hunger, visit foodlion.com/feeds.
*$1 helps provide the equivalent of 10 meals secured by college food pantries or local partner food banks.
**Food Lion Feeds provides up to 2,000 meals for every quarterback sack made in a playoff or championship game.
***Food Lion Feeds helps address food insecurity by providing product, financial and equipment donations; disaster relief and recovery efforts; investing in capital campaign support for feeding agencies; and volunteer hours by associates. These investments are converted to a meal equivalent based on various meal equivalent formulas.
About Food Lion
Food Lion is an omnichannel grocery retailer committed to nourishing its neighbors. More than 82,000 associates across 1,100+ stores deliver an easy, fresh and affordable shopping experience throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. With a focus on hunger relief, Food Lion is a pioneer in food rescue. In 2014, Food Lion Feeds was created and has since donated more than 1.2 billion meals to those who are food insecure. The retailer has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Founded and based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit foodlion.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/43c1dc56-88f2-46a4-9600-8fcf03d97337