Food Lion's College Basketball Initiative Delivers 1.7 Million Meals

Event summary

  • Food Lion's Score to Give More initiative provided 1.7 million meals during the 2025-2026 college basketball season.
  • 54 men's and women's basketball teams participated, with each team potentially contributing up to 30,000 meals.
  • The program has donated over 8.2 million meals since its 2019 launch, aiming for 3 billion meals by 2032.
  • The 2026 CIAA and ACC tournaments contributed an additional 60,000 and 66,000 meals respectively.

The big picture

Food Lion's initiative exemplifies how retailers are leveraging sports partnerships to amplify their corporate social responsibility efforts. The program aligns with broader industry trends of using sponsorships to drive meaningful community impact, while also positioning Food Lion as a leader in hunger relief within its 10-state footprint. The scale of the initiative, with 1.7 million meals donated in a single season, underscores the potential of such collaborations to address food insecurity.

What we're watching

Program Scaling
Whether Food Lion can sustain the pace of meal donations as it approaches its 2032 goal.
Partnership Impact
How the collaboration with college basketball teams influences Food Lion's brand perception.
Community Engagement
The effectiveness of tying sports events to hunger relief in driving long-term community support.

Related topics

Partnership