Bank of America Announces $1.275 Million Donation to Fight Hunger in Charlotte! Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays and Second Harvest Food Bank To Each Receive $637,500!

Bank of America Donates $1.275 Million to Help Fight Hunger in Charlotte, with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays both receiving $637,500 through its COVID-19 Employee Booster Initiative.

CHARLOTTE – Bank of America today announced a $1.275 million donation to Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays to address food insecurity in the Charlotte region. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an estimated 38 million people were food insecure in the United States in 2020. As the pandemic continues, hunger relief organizations in Charlotte and across the country are facing ongoing challenges such as increased demand for their services and rising food prices.

Bank of America is supporting its employees’ health and safety while addressing one of the local communities’ most critical needs. Earlier this year, the company announced it would make a $100 donation to local hunger relief organizations and food banks for each employee who received a COVID-19 booster shot or vaccine and notified the bank before the end of January.

“The principle to provide for those most in need is a truly noble cause,” said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles. “I want to thank Bank of America for its willingness to feed the hungry in our community and to ease the burden of families who are struggling to make ends meet. I also want to recognize all of the Bank of America employees who got their shot and not just helped us battle the COVID-19 pandemic, but also supported the Charlotte community through this gift.”

 

Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina supplies food throughout a 24-county region of North and South Carolina through a network of over 950 emergency pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and programs for low-income children and seniors. For every $1 donated, the organization distributes 7 pounds of food to the community. Second Harvest’s partner agencies report that requests for food assistance have continued to increase at a rapid pace. The bank’s donation will help Second Harvest distribute approximately 4.46 million pounds of food to individuals and families throughout the Charlotte region.

 

“Bank of America has supported the efforts of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina for over 20 years,” shared Kay Carter, CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.  “On behalf of the over 950 partner agencies we serve in 24 counties in North and South Carolina, we say thank you for helping us feed thousands of hungry children, seniors, veterans and families.  We would encourage other companies to follow the lead of Bank of America in incentivizing employees to be safe and serve their communities.”

 

Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays is the merger of two longstanding hunger fighting organizations in our community who together provide nutritious groceries, prepared meals and hope to our neighbors in need. The pandemic brought an explosion in need, tripling the numbers fed in a matter of weeks while at the same time forcing the closure of all 41 brick and mortar pantries. In response, Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays created mobile pantry distribution sites, a home grocery delivery program as well as a Pop-Up Food Share program to distribute excess fresh produce. Through the funding raised by the booster program, Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays will be able to expand its home grocery deliveries, which provided a week’s worth of groceries to over 15,500 people in 2021. This builds on the bank’s partnership with Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays; as Loaves & Fishes was selected as a Neighborhood Builders® winner in 2020 and received $200,000 in unrestricted funding and leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader.

 

“Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays is amazed by this generous gift from Bank of America!  We proudly work every day alongside our partners at Second Harvest Food Bank to ensure that no one from our community goes hungry.  This pandemic caused a tidal wave of food insecurity unlike anything we’ve seen in decades.  A gift associated with protecting people from the dangers of this virus while also fighting hunger is a win-win,” shared Tina Postel, CEO, Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays.

 

Through this effort nationally, the bank has committed $10.6 million to food banks and hunger relief organizations through this effort. Since 2015, Bank of America has donated nearly $150 million toward hunger relief efforts.

“Charlotte is fortunate to have strong hunger relief organizations providing such a critical service to our community,” said Kieth Cockrell, President, Bank of America Charlotte. “This donation represents the collective power of investing in the health of our teammates while also ensuring both organizations can continue their mission of nourishing our neighbors.”

As a part of its vaccine booster effort, Bank of America committed to donating a minimum of $25,000 to a local nonprofit partner in each of the company’s 93 markets. Because vaccination boosters and reporting are voluntary and additional company contributions are reflected in the final amount, actual donation amounts differ from the number of boosters reported by bank employees.

The company has encouraged staff to get COVID-19 vaccinations since summer 2021 and has offered incentives such as paid time-off and $500 credits towards health benefit premiums. As a part of its ongoing efforts to address health-related disparities accelerated by the pandemic and in partnership with local nonprofits, Bank of America has also distributed more than 38 million masks, 41,000 cases of hand sanitizer, and 11 million gloves in local communities as part of its ongoing efforts to address health-related disparities accelerated by the pandemic.

 

About Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina

As part of Feeding America, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina serves 24 counties in North and South Carolina. In FY2020-2021, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina distributed over 82 million pounds of food and household items (including over 48 million pounds of fresh produce, meat, and dairy) to over 950 hunger feeding agencies including emergency pantries, soup kitchens, senior programs, shelters and low-income daycares. Visit www.secondharvestmetrolina.org and follow the Food Bank on: Facebook; Twitter; Instagram; Linkedin; YouTube.

 

About Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays

Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays provides nutritious groceries through a network of emergency food pantries and healthy, prepared meals as the primary Meals On Wheels program in Mecklenburg County.  It is our vision for all people in our community to meet their basic hunger needs by having access to nutritious food.  For more information, visit www.loavesandfishes.org.

 

 

About Bank of America

At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

 

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