MUST Ministries receives 29 tons of food from Publix
Jun. 24—Cobb-based nonprofit MUST Ministries received nearly 58,000 pounds of food from Publix's Feeding More Together register campaign at their Donation Center loading dock on Thursday morning.
The food shipments arrived to MUST Ministries in two parts. Thirteen pallets of food arrived on Wednesday, while the remaining 18 arrived on Thursday.
The shipments, which contained nonperishable items such as peanut butter, fruit cups and oatmeal, will be used to support MUST Ministries' food distribution programs.
These programs include client pantries, neighborhood pantries embedded in schools, food distribution initiatives for senior citizens, a mobile food pantry, a community kitchen and their summer lunch program, which aims to provide more than half a million meals to children in seven counties.
"It's just an incredible opportunity for Publix to give back to such a great organization that has such a great track record," said Brenda Reid, community relations manager for Publix.
The pandemic has increased the demand for food far above the volume they are used to managing, said Kaye Cagle, MUST's marketing vice president.
"Food is always in demand, but particularly in light of what we've been through ... we've had a lot of people that have had to come to us for the first time for food," Cagle said.
Don Crampton, MUST's corporate relations director, said they served nearly five times as many clients during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic years.
"As people have a need, our need for resources goes up," Crampton said.
To meet the increasing need, Publix introduced the Feeding More Together program in March. The program was a 12-day register campaign: Publix shoppers were asked if they would donate to the program that benefitted local food banks. After raising $5 million in customer donations, Publix matched the amount, bringing the total raised to $10 million.
As a partner of MUST Ministries, Publix designated particular Cobb-area stores to donate the funds raised from the Feeding More Together program in the form of credit. MUST Ministries then purchased the food they needed for their programs directly from Publix.
"This program helps us, through our customer support, to help alleviate hunger," Reid said.
Reid emphasized the importance of location in their partnership with MUST Ministries, ensuring that donated funds stay within the community it was originally donated.
"When customers donate at the register, they like to know that their money is going towards helping folks in the communities where they live," Reid said.
The donation to MUST Ministries was powerful for Reid because, throughout the 15-year connection with MUST, Publix has seen the nonprofit grow and better meet the needs of the community.
"We've been a part of helping the organization grow and provide more food," Reid said. "This is one we're very excited about, helping them grow, because the need is so great in the area."
