Spinneys, the leading supermarket retailer in the Middle East and North Africa, launched its newest initiative dedicated to distributing unsold and excess of fruits and vegetables available in its stores to charities on a daily basis.
To establish its goal in supporting families in need, the supermarket giant is joining forces with the Lebanese NGO, Active Advocacy for the Communities of Tomorrow (ACT) and a group of volunteers, among which are AUB students.
Driven by the will to achieve change in the world, ACT team members took it upon themselves to collect, every day, the least attractive fruits and vegetables in store and offer them to charities or directly to the elderly, the sick, and economically challenged families. These products can also be used in cooking, preparing salads, desserts or jams, and various other food preparations.
Since the beginning of this humanitarian campaign in April, Spinneys is reaching, on a weekly basis, more than 300 people – around 80 families – by supporting them with their daily meals. It is also providing around 400 kilograms of food, monthly, to the “Enfants de lumière” families and is working on expanding its reach to more organizations, such as Centre de développement social – Mar Youssef, Orthodox Youth and House of the Elderly – Ain Saade, Crosstalk, Deir Al Salib and Centre Rene Wehbe for elderly cancer patients.
With this initiative to constantly sustain charities and through other projects impacting communities positively, Spinneys is hoping to decrease the percentage of food waste in Lebanon, reduce organic waste as well as pollution caused by waste, and is seeking a higher target, especially that the supermarket was able to help a number of 200 families in need until this day.