Saline Area Social Service is proud to announce a partnership with Meijer this spring to provide much-needed hunger relief to local families through the Grand Rapids-based retailer’s customer-driven food pantry donation program, Simply Give. This week Meijer will double match your gift on Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3rd at the Ann Arbor-Saline Road store only.
According to Jamail Aikens, Executive Director of Saline Area Social Service, this program and the community’s support has been critical in helping to ensure an adequate food supply for the people SASS serves.
“To respond, scan a Simply Give card, located near the checkout, and Meijer will double match your gift. $10 becomes $30, $100 becomes $300, $500 becomes $1,500, etc.," Aikens said. "The customer service desk can process donations for the larger amounts.”
Saline Area Social Service serves local residents experiencing financial hardship. The agency provides a food bank and several other services.
Each Meijer Simply Give campaign replenishes the shelves of more than 230 food pantries in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The program encourages customers to purchase $10 Simply Give donation cards, which are then converted into Meijer food-only gift cards and given to a local food pantry in the store’s community.
Saline Area Social Service will benefit from donation cards purchased at the Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. Meijer store now through June 18. This year’s spring campaign will, once again, coincide with the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. Proceeds from the tournament – and its corresponding festivities – will benefit the Simply Give program. The first three tournaments generated more than $2.1 million.
The Simply Give program runs three times a year: spring, fall and during the holidays. Since the program began in November 2008, more than $28 million has been generated for food pantries in the Midwest to distribute to our hungry neighbors.
“Today’s food pantries continue to struggle with keeping up with the flood of requests they receive daily,” Meijer Spokeswoman Christina Fecher said. “The Simply Give program is a way for Meijer customers to partner with Meijer and support the food banks and pantries that provide food to our hungry neighbors in the communities we serve. We certainly couldn’t do it without the support and commitment of our generous customers and team members, who stand beside us in this effort.”