EXCLUSIVE: SpartanNash Sets Aside Day to Pack 500K Meals for Future Disaster Victims
Last year, on SpartanNash’s first Helping Hands Day, team members and partners who came together to pack boxes for disaster relief had no way of knowing that the items would be distributed to those impacted by a string of tragic events, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the fall.
Those catastrophes, along with other high-profile disasters including the California wildfires and a recent crippling ice storm in Northern Michigan, were on the minds of those who donned bright green shirts and came out for the second Helping Hands Day on April 15 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Mich. Progressive Grocer was on hand for the beginning of that event, as more than 850 SpartanNash Team members worked alongside several CPG suppliers and nonprofit partners with a keen understanding that the dry goods inside the box might soon be handed to someone in need.
“We are seeing everybody collectively come together and take such joy in knowing that we are working for the common good to help so many who are impacted by disasters – and disasters happen,” said Dawn Bredeweg, SpartanNash's manager of charitable giving and hospitality and a 2024 Top Women In Grocery winner. “We have 15,000 boxes that we put together that feed a family of four for five days who are experiencing a natural disaster.”
The food and hygiene kits assembled at the Helping Hands Day are given to Convoy of Hope, which manages distribution in times of crisis. “I think for the people who were here last year putting the boxes together, when they got to see video of those boxes being given to survivors of hurricanes, I think it really struck a chord with them and probably fired them up,” said Ethan Forhetz, VP of public engagement for Convoy of Hope.
The impact of the effort was likewise noted by SpartanNash suppliers who joined the line of volunteer workers. “It is really synergistic with everything that Del Monte stands for. Our goal as a company is to bring nutritious food and made it widely available to people and that lines up well with this mission,” said Andrew Magliozzi, senior business development manager at Del Monte Foods, Inc.
Added Tom Gouger, senior director of national accounts at Kellanova: “There is the core value of giving back to the community. And this is the definition of giving back to your communities.”
Other suppliers who participated in this year’s Helping Hands Day include Seneca Foods, Kraft Heinz, Country Fresh, W.K. Kellogg Co., Hormel Foods, J.M. Smucker Co., General Mills, Dairy Farmers of America and Quaker, among others. In addition to Convoy of Hope, SpartanNash’s nonprofit partners Operation Homefront and Folds of Honor took part in the initiative, as did students and student-athletes from nearby Calvin University.
SpartanNash estimates that the food solutions company, with its partners, will donate $1.7 million in food and hygiene kits this year.
CEO Tony Sarsam took a break from packing boxes to sum up the event. “The important part of our culture – the People First culture – is serving people. As a food solutions company, we know we have the opportunity to serve people what they need when they need it the most,” he told PG.
With 20,000 associates, SpartanNash operates two complementary business segments: food wholesale and grocery retail. Its global supply chain network serves wholesale customers that include independent and chain grocers, national retail brands, e-commerce platforms, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges. On the retail side, SpartanNash operates 200 brick-and-mortar grocery stores, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin's Super Markets, and D&W Fresh Market, in addition to dozens of pharmacies and fuel centers. The company is No. 45 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
