April 5, 2022 – The Charlotte Hornets and Official Hunger Relief Partner Food Lion Feeds are distributing 3,000 backpacks to local children facing food insecurity. The Backpacks include eight nutritious, ready-to-eat food items, in preparation for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ upcoming Spring Break, when school meals will not be available.
Earlier today, a group of Hornets and Food Lion volunteers packed the backpacks, which are being distributed to students at schools across the Carolinas as part of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina’s Backpack Program. According to a 2020 study presented by Feeding America, one in five children struggles with hunger in North Carolina, and the Backpack Program provides over 200,000 backpacks annually across the 24 counties Second Harvest serves.
“We are proud to once again team with our friends at Food Lion Feeds and Second Harvest Food Bank to help fight hunger in our community,” said Hornets President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield. “Our hope is that these backpacks take some of the stress away from parents over the break, and that students who receive these backpacks can focus on learning and having a fun-filled break, rather than when their next nutritious meal may be.”
“No child should have to worry about where their next meal will come from,” said Food Lion President Meg Ham. “Fighting child hunger is so important to us at Food Lion and that’s why we’re excited to once again partner with the Hornets to support the food bank and help feed more of our Charlotte-area students while they’re away from school.”
The backpacks come after the Hornets and Food Lion Feeds partnered in March for the 2022 Dunk Hunger initiative to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. Food Lion donated 1,000 meals for every dunk recorded by the Hornets in the month of March, resulting in 100,000 meals.
B-roll footage and photos of Hornets and Food Lion volunteers packing the backpacks can be found at the following link: Hornets/Food Lion backpacks.