These donations by Walmart shoppers were “incredibly generous by residents in Madison. It’s truly a testament to neighbors helping neighbors,” Kathryn Strickland said. Strickland works as Executive Director of the Food Band of North Alabama. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON COUNTY – Area shoppers donated $58,611 to the Food Bank of North Alabama during Walmart’s “Fight Hunger. Spark Change” campaign.

Families rallied to help fight hunger in three ways: donating cash at checkout; buying merchandise from participating vendors, who donated a portion of purchase price; and using Twitter to post shoppers’ photos, for which Walmart contributed a set amount.

These donations were “incredibly generous by residents in Madison. It’s truly a testament to neighbors helping neighbors,” Kathryn Strickland said. Strickland works as Executive Director of the Food Band of North Alabama. “For each $1 donated, we can provide nearly six meals.”

“The results are nothing short of amazing and will enable us to feed the 80,000 children, families, veterans and seniors in North Alabama who rely upon us and partner programs for their next meal,” Strickland said. “We are truly grateful for the support and partnership with Walmart and all residents who contributed.”

All Walmart stores in Huntsville and Madison participated. Nationwide, the Walmart campaign raised more than $10 million to support Feeding America and affiliate food banks.

Claire Griffin, the Food Bank’s Agency/Community Relations Manager, said collections weren’t identified by store. “We worked with multiple stores in Madison … and Madison County. This campaign provides additional resources so we can continue to provide assistance to 11 counties across north Alabama” with 150,780 people facing hunger issues, Griffin said.

In Madison County, the Food Bank works with almost 100 partner feeding programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens and backpack programs for students.

Strickland said 49,000 people are “food insecure” in Madison County, including City of Madison residents. “The Food Bank supplies 2.6 million pounds of food annually to charitable programs in Madison County alone,” Strickland said.

In Madison County, 16,210 children live in food-insecure households, Strickland said.

For more information, visit fbofna.org.