Last week, with players from the Virginia Tech football packing the boxes making the deliveries, Kroger donated 450 turkeys to Feeding Southwest Virginia that will go to local families who rely on food banks and food pantries to feed their households.
The donation is a result of Touchdown for Turkeys, a campaign in which Kroger pledged to donate 10 turkeys for every touchdown scored by the Hokies during the 2021 football season. Virginia Tech finished the season with 35 touchdowns, and Kroger kicked the “extra point” and donated an additional 100 turkeys to up the total to 450.
“Kroger is proud to partner with Virginia Tech football and Feeding Southwest Virginia to provide 450 turkeys for those in need through the Touchdowns for Turkeys program,” Kroger Mid-Atlantic Division corporate affairs manager James Menees said. “We are also appreciative of the student-athletes and athletic department staff who volunteered their time to help facilitate the turkey delivery and pack food boxes to provide families with meals over the holidays. Touchdowns for Turkeys is one of our favorite partnerships and truly makes a difference in our communities.”
Feeding Southwest Virginia was founded in 1981 and serves 26 counties, including nine city regions, providing food or meals to those in need.
Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic Division operates more than 100 stores in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the division employs about 18,000 associates.
Kroger is dedicated to eliminating hunger in the communities it serves through partnerships with nine Feeding America food banks and numerous local organizations. The grocer’s Zero Hunger| Zero Waste efforts are aimed at ending hunger in Kroger communities and eliminating waste in stores by 2025.
Kroger also supports breast cancer research, the military and their families and more than 4,000 nonprofit organizations. Last year, Kroger Mid-Atlantic donated 16.5 million meals to charity and 3,606,296 pounds of food to food bank partners.