Walmart Awards $15 Million to Feeding America® to Expand Food Access for Families Nationwide
For more than 20 years, Walmart and Feeding America have worked together to address food insecurity and help connect individuals and families with nutritious food. Continuing that longstanding partnership, Walmart has announced a new $15 million grant to Feeding America aimed at strengthening the infrastructure behind the charitable food system and helping more food reach communities across the United States.
The investment comes as Feeding America estimates that nearly 48 million people nationwide are experiencing food insecurity. Food banks and community-based organizations are working to respond to increasing demand, but their ability to provide assistance depends not only on the amount of food available but also on the resources required to rescue, transport, store and distribute that food safely and efficiently.
Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations already play a significant role in supplying food to the Feeding America network. During fiscal year 2026 alone, Walmart and Sam’s Club donated approximately 769 million pounds of food in the United States. However, turning those donations into meals for families requires a well-equipped network of food banks and local agencies.
The new grant is designed to help address those logistical and operational needs. A substantial portion of the funding will be directed to food banks and local agencies so they can strengthen retail food rescue capabilities. Investments will support equipment, storage, transportation and other infrastructure needed to collect and distribute donated food.
By improving these capabilities, the initiative is expected to help food banks accept more food from retailers and move it through the charitable food system more efficiently. The focus will also include nutritious food, helping communities receive a broader range of products that can contribute to healthier meals.
Technology will represent another important component of the investment. The grant will support tools that can help Feeding America’s network coordinate food donations, manage inventory and improve the movement of food between retailers, food banks and community organizations. Better technology and data capabilities can help organizations identify available resources and determine where food is needed, potentially reducing delays and improving distribution efficiency.
The investment builds on previous capacity-building efforts that have demonstrated the potential for infrastructure funding to increase retail food donations. According to Feeding America, food banks participating in similar capacity grants have doubled the growth of their retail food donation rates.
Based on that experience, Feeding America expects the latest Walmart investment to help its network rescue an additional 500 million pounds of food over the next 18 months. The goal reflects an emphasis on expanding the amount of usable food that can be recovered from retailers and ultimately delivered to people facing hunger.
Julie Gehrki, Senior Vice President of Philanthropy at Walmart, emphasized the importance of strengthening the organizations responsible for moving donated food into communities.
“Food banks and local agencies are pillars in their communities, and we know many are being asked to do more,” Gehrki said. “Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs donate millions of pounds of food every year, but getting that food to families depends on a strong network of food banks and local organizations.”
She added that the latest investment is intended to provide food banks and community organizations with additional resources and tools to help move donated food efficiently to people who need it.
The partnership also reflects the interconnected nature of food donations and community food assistance. Retailers can make substantial quantities of food available, but without adequate refrigeration, storage space, transportation, staffing and technology, food banks may not have the capacity to accept and distribute all of those donations.
Feeding America CEO Denis McDonough also highlighted the importance of collaboration throughout the food system.
“At a time when neighbors are facing higher costs for food and other essentials, communities need every part of the food system working together,” McDonough said. He described Walmart as a longstanding partner in efforts to make nutritious food available to communities and said the new investment will strengthen the people, infrastructure and technology needed to move more food to areas where it is needed.
In addition to food rescue and distribution, the grant will support efforts to improve access to nutrition assistance, including programs that help families connect with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP.
The new commitment represents the latest development in a relationship between Walmart and Feeding America that spans more than two decades. Over that period, the companies and organizations involved in the partnership have worked across multiple areas, including food donations, financial support, customer engagement and supplier participation.
One of the most visible initiatives has been Fight Hunger. Spark Change., a campaign that brings together Walmart, Sam’s Club members, customers and participating suppliers to raise support for Feeding America and local food banks.
The 2026 campaign generated more than $18 million, according to Walmart. That amount represents the equivalent of more than 180 million meals for people facing hunger. The campaign has been running since 2014 and has helped secure more than 2.4 billion meals for people experiencing food insecurity.
The latest $15 million grant adds another layer to those efforts by focusing specifically on the infrastructure needed to make food rescue and distribution more effective. Rather than concentrating solely on increasing the amount of food donated, the initiative addresses the systems required to move that food from retail locations through food banks and ultimately into communities.
As food banks continue responding to demand for assistance, investments in storage, transportation, staffing and technology can play an important role in determining how much donated food reaches households. Walmart and Feeding America expect the expanded capacity to support the recovery of hundreds of millions of additional pounds of food over the coming 18 months.
The initiative demonstrates how retailers, food banks, charitable organizations, suppliers and consumers can contribute to a broader food-access network. Through continued food donations, infrastructure investments and customer-focused fundraising campaigns, Walmart and Feeding America are extending a partnership that has evolved over more than two decades while focusing on the practical systems needed to connect surplus food with families across the country.
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