Walmart holds food drive for its needy workers

November 19, 2013 in News by The Manimal

Source: The Indy Channel

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CANTON, Ohio – One Walmart store is holding a food drive for its needy workers who are going through “unforeseen hardships.”

A labor group that has proposed for Walmart to unionize its employees posted a photo online of several large plastic bins with a sign that read: “Please donate food items here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.”

Kory Lundberg, a spokesman for Walmart, said the Canton, Ohio, store of about 300 employees has been hosting a holiday food drive for a few years.

“Quite frankly, a lot of people in that store are frustrated and offended that this is reported in a way besides other folks rallying around each other,” Lundberg said.

Last year, he said there were about 12 people who benefited from the program, ABC NEWS reported. 

“I couldn’t be prouder of people in that store helping in a tough situation,” he said. “It shows these associates care for each other.”

Lundberg said Walmart has a company-wide program called The Associates in Critical Need Trust that is a non-profit 501(c)(3) to provide financial assistance to associates who are experiencing hardship. Associates can donate to the trust, either through a payroll deduction or voluntary, direct contributions. In 2008, the trust made more than 160 grants to Walmart associates every week. “Since its inception, more than 50,000 associates have sought help through the trust for themselves and their families this way,” Walmart says on its website.