Grant Will Provide Food to Active Military, Veterans and Their Families at Risk of Hunger
(July 11, 2017) Columbia, SC- Harvest Hope Food Bank received a $10,000 Critical Community Needs grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, the non-profit arm of Dominion Energy. This grant will be used to continue support for Operation HP, a hunger prevention program designed to serve military communities.
During the last three years, Harvest Hope has served an average of 16,000 veterans and 4,000 active duty military through its Emergency Food Pantries. To ensure adequate nutritional support for military personnel, veterans and their families who may lack the capacity to provide food for themselves, Dominion Energy is providing funding to help feed active military, veterans and their families at risk of hunger.
“The brave men and women who have proudly served—or are currently serving—our nation, should not have to worry where their next meal will come from,” said Davis Bourne, Board Chairman for Harvest Hope Food Bank. “Just last month, Harvest Hope served 1,155 individuals with military affiliation. We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with Dominion Energy the continued opportunity to serve our military community in this way.”
“Throughout Dominion Energy’s long history of giving back to our communities, we’ve made support for military, veterans and their families a top priority. In fact, 1 in 5 of Dominion Energy’s new hires is a veteran,” said Kristen Beckham, external affairs representative for Dominion Energy. “With our commitment to serving those who have sacrificed so much to serve us, we are especially honored to partner with Harvest Hope to care for South Carolina’s men and women in uniform.”
According to Department of Defense Manpower Data Center, it is estimated that approximately 55,000 active and reserve troops work and reside in the state of South Carolina, making it one of the largest military populations in the country. US Department of Veterans Affairs reports that approximately 400,000 veterans also reside in the state.
In Harvest Hope’s 20-county territory, 300,000 individuals—including 86,100 children—are food insecure. This means they will miss at least one meal over the course of a month. Harvest Hope is South Carolina’s largest food bank and served over 27 million meals in 2017.
###
About Harvest Hope Food Bank
Harvest Hope Food Bank was founded in 1981 as the result of a shared vision of business leaders and the faith community who set out to provide for the hungry in Columbia. Harvest Hope distributed nearly 28 million pounds of food last year and feeds approximately 38,000 people a week. Their main offices are located in Columbia, but the organization also has locations in Greenville and Florence.
About Dominion Energy
Nearly 6 million customers in 19 states heat and cool their homes and power their businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D). The company's record of reliable, safe and clean energy regularly places it among American's most-admired utilities. One of the nation's leading operators of solar energy, Dominion Energy is one of just three companies to have reduced carbon intensity by more than 40 percent since 2000.
The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation is dedicated to improving the physical, social and economic well-being of the communities served by Dominion Energy. The Foundation supports nonprofit causes that meet basic human needs, protect the environment, promote education and encourage community vitality. To learn more, please visit www.dominionenergy.com, Facebook or Twitter. To learn more about Dominion Energy’s growing presence in S.C., visit www.DominionEnergySouth.com.
SCBIZtv is part of the SC Biz News family, serving 100,000 high-level business execs throughout South Carolina.
Click for more from SCBIZtv.
