An amazing 2 million meals collected by Sainsbury’s and FareShare’s ‘Million Meal Appeal’ to help feed those in need

On 6-7 October, the UK’s largest charity food collection took place in 900 Sainsbury’s stores , with a record two million meals donated over the weekend’s activities.

Run in partnership with Sainsbury’s, the appeal encouraged customers to help make a difference by adding just one extra item to their shopping to help feed those in need – with every meal donated matched by Sainsbury’s.

The items collected are destined for local charities and projects in their surrounding communities, such as the soup kitchen run by the Astell Foundation that provides aid, accommodation and long-term support for London’s homeless. Through these organisations, 36,500 people will benefit from the food every day.

FareShare ambassador Lorraine Pascale also helped out over the weekend. She said: “The response has been amazing. We’ve raised millions of meals, one extra item at a time. It really shows how little actions can make a huge difference if we work together. Sainsbury’s colleagues along with FareShare’s army of volunteers have really gone all out to make this year’s Appeal bigger and better than ever.”

Harper, aged 7, who donated at Sainsbury’s Cromwell Road said: “I bought beans and pasta because spaghetti bolognese is my favourite. I hope whoever gets them will like them too.”

• Record donations from customers as Appeal remains UK’s biggest ever single-charity food drive
• Over 700 local charities and community projects throughout the country to benefit
• Over a thousand Sainsbury’s colleagues and more than 600 FareShare volunteers got behind the Appeal in 900 stores
• 1kg pasta and pasta sauces are the nation’s most donated food items
• Sainsbury’s matching every meal donated by customers

Thank you to everyone involved, from the fantastic volunteers  and Sainsbury’s staff who helped in stores, the many customers who donated generously and to Sainsbury’s matching their customers’ contributions.

 

Some Images From The Million Meal Appeal

The appeal was extended to 900 stores after the success of the event in 2011 at 600 stores where a total of 1.2 million meals were donated to help feed those in need. This year Sainsbury’s ran the event over two days and offered its online customers the opportunity to get involved by choosing to make a £1 donation to the Appeal up to 9 October 2012.

FareShare and Sainsbury’s have been working together for 18 years to fight hunger and food waste, redistributing quality surplus food to thousands for vulnerable people in our community.  The Million Meal Appeal was created to provide FareShare with the cupboard essentials required to complement the predominatly fresh food that FareShrae receives from Sainsbury’s and our other food industry partners, meaning the food we supply to our network of charities can go even further.

The Million Meal Appeal list consisted of products such as dried pasta and rice as well as tinned food, instant coffee and tea. For more information on our partnership with Sainsbury’s visit www.sainsburys.co.uk/fareshare

 

 

 

 

Other ways you can get involved