The Salvation Army, Meijer partner to provide hunger relief in the Tri-Cities

The Salvation Army Tri-City Joe K. Anderson Community Center has announced a partnership with Meijer this fall to provide much-needed hunger relief to local families through the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer's customer-driven food pantry donation program, "Simply Give."

"Last year, The Salvation Army provided food assistance to over 15,000 individuals, so corporate support from Meijer will help us to continue to provide hunger relief to those in need in our community," said Lt. Betsy Clark, commanding officer of The Salvation Army Tri-City Joe K. Anderson Community Center.

Each Meijer Simply Give campaign replenishes the shelves of more than 200 food pantries in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The program encourages customers to purchase $10 Simply Give donation cards, which are then converted into Meijer food-only gift cards and given to a local food pantry in the store's community.

The Salvation Army will benefit from donation cards purchased at the St. Charles Meijer store now through Sept. 24.

"We encourage community members to help us fulfill our mission of helping feed the hungry in the Tri-City area by purchasing a Meijer Simply Give food donation card during their next shopping trip," said Lt. Betsy Clark.

For the fifth consecutive year, Meijer will contribute at least $1 million to the 2016 Simply Give program.

The Simply Give program runs three times a year: spring, fall and holiday. Since the program began in November 2008, nearly $24 million has been generated for food pantries in the Midwest to distribute to our hungry neighbors.

"Today's food pantries are struggling to keep up with the flood of requests they receive daily," Meijer spokeswoman Christina Fecher said. "The Simply Give program is a way for Meijer customers to partner with Meijer and support the food banks and pantries that provide food to the hungry families in the communities we serve. We certainly couldn't do it without the support and commitment of our generous customers and team members, who stand beside us in this effort."

The Salvation Army St. Charles Tri-City Corps is dedicated to serving more than 20,000 people in 2016 who are hungry in St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Wayne and Campton Hills.

In 2015, The Salvation Army celebrated its 150th worldwide anniversary and 130 years of service in Chicago and the Fox Valley area. As one of the largest direct providers of social services in the state of Illinois, The Salvation Army operates more than 20 corps community centers, as well as other facilities in neighborhoods across the greater Chicago area and surrounding counties, including Kane County, offering after school programs, recreational activities and music education, as well as disaster relief, shelter, meals, child care, senior services and more. For more information about the Joe K. Anderson Community Center, visit www.satricity.org or www.facebook.com/salvationarmyjoekandersoncenter.