Food Bank Association gets grantse_SFlbreceives $50,000 grant to aid children

The Louisiana Food Bank Association won a $50,000 grant from the Walmart Associate Choice Program that the group says will provide food for 200 children.

“This generous gift will allow us to contribute to our member food banks’ backpack programs and provide an additional 200 Louisiana children with backpacks of food to take home on weekends throughout the school year,” Food Bank Executive Director Cindy Greenstein said in a news release. “With these funds, we can ensure that additional children will receive food on weekends where they otherwise would have been unsure of where their food would come from. We are immensely grateful to all the Walmart associates for this hunger relief commitment to our community.”

Though the grant helps, the association stresses it still relies on help from the community.

“There is an urgent need right now as many of our food banks have depleted their supplies to provide food for victims of Hurricane Isaac,” Greenstein said. “Our food banks’ shelves are bare.”

The Louisiana Food Bank Association represents five regional food banks in the state, including the Northwest Louisiana Food Bank, the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana, the Food Bank of Central Louisiana, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.