October 28, 2008

Philabundance and Trader Joe’s Team Up To Fight Hunger

PHILADELPHIA – Oct. 28, 2008 – Philabundance, the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization and Trader Joe’s, the specialty grocery store chain, have teamed up to fight hunger. For the past six months, Trader Joe’s in Media has taken part in Philabundance’s food rescue program which puts fresh food into the hands of people in need.

In 1984, Philabundance was founded to help ensure that perishable food from such businesses as restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, airlines, hotels and caterers that would have otherwise gone to waste was instead provided to people in need. This partnership with Trader Joe’s has allowed Philabundance to re-invigorate its original mission of rescuing perishable food from businesses in the region.

In the six months since the program began, 5,000 pounds of food has been donated from the Media store. The partnership began when a Trader Joe’s employee noticed a lot of food being thrown away and thought to contact Philabundance with management’s blessing. The store hopes more of the region’s Trader Joe’s locations join in the fight against hunger, and so far two other Trader Joe’s stores in Ardmore and Abington have begun participating in the food rescue program.

“This relationship is extremely important because it intercepts perfectly good food that would end up in a landfill,” Bill Clark, President and Executive Director of Philabundance, explained. “Philabundance and other hunger relief organizations struggle with providing foods high in protein to the people they serve. The meats and chicken we receive from Trader Joe’s helps meet that need.”

The Trader Joe’s food is picked up in Media every other week with bread being saved every day by a Philabundance agency, City Team Ministries of Chester. The rescued food is made up entirely of frozen foods and meat. After receiving the donations, Philabundance distributes it at one of their centers for those in need. The organization also gives the frozen products to smaller agencies for their own distribution or uses them in the Philabundance Community Kitchen.