In 2014, Food Lion announced it was creating "Food Lion Feeds," a hunger relief initiative with a goal of donating 500 million meals by the end of 2020.
Now the grocery store chain announced it had achieved that goal more than 18 months early.
"Each of these 500 million meals has helped one of our neighbors who did not know where their next meal would come from – children, seniors, service members, veterans and families across our footprint who were faced with the impossible choices caused by hunger," Food Lion President Meg Ham said in a news release.
Food Lion Feeds partnered with hunger relief organization Feeding America and 30 Feeding America-affiliated food banks across 10 states. The company said that through these partnerships over the past five years, Food Lion Feeds was able to donate 500 million meals "through a combination of product, financial and equipment donations; disaster relief and recovery efforts; volunteer hours by associates; in-store retail campaigns; the company’s food rescue program to donate food before it perishes; and other sources."