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DOWAGIAC — A local nonprofit organization is joining forces with a grocery store retailer to help feed the Dowagiac community.

ACTION Ministries, 301 Main St., Dowagiac, is partnering with the SpartanNash Foundation during its retail scan campaign to provide hunger relief in the local community.

From Oct. 28 to Nov. 8, store guests who visit the Dowagiac Family Fare will have the opportunity to donate $1, $5, $10 or round up their purchase at any checkout lane, with 100 percent of dollars raised going directly to ACTION Ministries Food Pantry.

“Family Fare has been a great partner and help to our food ministry for as long as ACTION has been in the community,” said Jeff Neumann, media liaison for ACTION Ministries. “We are excited about this opportunity and encourage support of ACTION Ministry’s food pantry as people shop at Family Fare in Dowagiac.”

The ACTION Ministries Food Pantry’s mission is to promote a healthy, caring and just community for all people by providing the basic need of food, Neumann said.

SpartanNash, which owns the Dowagiac Family Fare, underwrites the cost of the fundraising campaign so that all donations will benefit ACTION Ministries Food Pantry and families in need in the local community.

“One in six people struggles with hunger, and as little as $1 can provide up to four meals for those in need through Action Ministries Food Pantry,” said Meredith Gremel, SpartanNash vice president of corporate affairs and communications and executive director of the Spartannash Foundation “Each of our corporate-owned stores has hand selected a partner pantry, so that we can work together to provide hunger relief in the communities where SpartanNash associates and our store guests live and work.”

The SpartanNash Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Spartan Nash. It is focused on providing financial support to nonprofit partners who align with its mission to end hunger, provide shelter and support the nation’s military heroes, officials said.

In 2019, $271,150 was granted to more than 100 local food pantry partners through the SpartanNash Foundation’s retail scan campaign to provide hunger relief. SpartanNash also donated more than 5 million pounds of product to community food pantries and local nonprofits through its corporate retail locations and distribution centers last year, in addition to financial support through the SpartanNash Foundation.

SpartanNash distributes grocery products to independent and chain retailers in 50 states and its 158 corporate owned retail stores, in addition to fresh produce distribution and fresh food processing. Through its MDV military division, SpartanNash is a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries around the world.