Food Lion Feeds honors a local soup kitchen with their SOUPer Star Kitchens recognition program

Press release from Manna Food Bank:

On Monday, February 13, Food Lion employees will descend on a local soup kitchen to honor their work by cooking and serving lunch to the soup kitchen volunteers’ to celebrate their hard work.

Food Lion Feeds is Food Lion’s initiative to address hunger by providing food donations, volunteers, and monetary support to hunger relief organizations. Their goal is to provide 500 million meals by 2020.

Food Lion Feeds has selected Montmorenci United Methodist Church, a MANNA FoodBank partner agency located in Candler, as the local hunger organization to honor. Once a week, Montmorenci volunteers cook a hot meal for over 150 people. They also host a weekly food pantry, where anyone from the community can come for food support. Montmorenci UMC serves one of the poorest areas of Buncombe County, and is completely dependent on regular volunteers for all kitchen and pantry operations.

“Food Lion is a strong partner in the work to end hunger in Western North Carolina,” says Jen Waite, food sourcing director for MANNA FoodBank. “They support MANNA and a large number of our partner pantries through their regular food donations and participation in Feeding America’s direct retail pickup program. They are truly dedicated to helping ease the burden of hunger for families across WNC.”

“Montmorenci volunteers work incredibly hard to provide enough food to the residents in their community that need help,” says Katy German, agency relations manager for MANNA FoodBank. “These committed volunteers are there every week of the year to make sure that no one misses a meal or a chance to fill their plates. We are so happy that Food Lion recognizes their hard work – we can’t imagine a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than a chance to recognize the huge amount of heart these volunteers pour into their community.”