Giant Food Rolls Out Community Reusable Bag Program

D.C.-area grocer Giant Food has introduced the Community Bag Program, a reusable-bag initiative powered by Bags 4 My Cause and designed to enable customers to help nonprofit organizations in the region while reducing single-use paper and plastic waste in the environment.

Each reusable community bag sports an attached Giving Tag allowing shoppers to designate a $1 donation to their preferred locally active nonprofit. Retailing for $2.50 apiece, the bags are sold at all Giant Food locations.

“The Community Bag Program is a way we can bring our community together to support the organizations that make a difference in our own backyard while also encouraging actions that reduce our carbon footprint,” noted Ira Kress, who became interim president of Giant Food after Gordon Reid was tapped to take the helm at sister banner Stop & Shop when Mark McGowan decided to leave. “Giant has always been committed to being a better neighbor, and the Community Bag Program is a perfect fit to furthering our mission.” 

Customers wishing to designate their $1 donation after buying a bag must remove the scratch-off layer on the attached tag to uncover a unique identifier code. They can then go to mygiantfoodcause.com, enter the code into the form on the website, and choose the nonprofit to receive the donation. The site features a pre-populated list of 2,500-plus nonprofits active throughout the areas Giant’s market area, and customers may also select for consideration a nonprofit not on the list.

If a shopper doesn’t designate the donation within seven days of purchasing the bag, the $1 will go to the default nonprofit of the month chosen by the local store where the bag was bought.

Another sister banner of the grocer, Giant/Martin’s teamed up with Bags 4 My Cause earlier this year, while Southeastern Grocers offers the Community Bag with a Giving Tag program. Additionally, Food Lion, yet another sister banner, recently rolled out an initiative in which the proceeds of specially designed reusable bags will raise money to provide meals for the needy through Feeding America food banks.

Landover, Md.-based Giant Food operates 164 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, employing about 20,000 associates. Parent company Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 4 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.