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MATTHEWS, N.C. (PRWEB) 
In an effort to help fight hunger in North Carolina, Harris Teeter is partnering with NC Food Bank Association and four in-state collegiate rivals - Duke, NC State, UNC and Wake Forest - to launch the inaugural “Million Meals Challenge”. This challenge is a collaborative yearlong effort to provide one million meals for North Carolinians-in-need through three main initiatives: a text-to-donate campaign; campus food drives; and an in-store food drive and donation card campaign at N.C. Harris Teeter locations from Feb. 17-29, 2016.
This challenge focuses on generating yearlong support from students, fans, alumni and campus communities of Duke, NC State, UNC and Wake Forest universities. Each school will be reaching out individually to their respective student body, alumni and campus communities to help donate their time, money and/or food in support of the “The Million Meals Challenge”. Various on-campus events, as well as activities led by student groups, will be held to accept food donations and contribute to the overall initiative throughout the year. Each school will dedicate radio, online, text donation and social media efforts to the campaign. Additionally, a food drive will be held during one ACC men’s football game and one ACC men’s basketball game at each respective school to mark the campaign’s conclusion.
Harris Teeter has been a long-time corporate partner of the respective athletic departments and on a corporate level is committed to striking out hunger within the state of North Carolina, where approximately 160,000 different people receive emergency food assistance in any given week. Last year, Harris Teeter donated more than $9.4 million and 5.5 million pounds of food to hundreds of nonprofit organizations that qualify through the Corporate Contributions guidelines.
“Harris Teeter recognizes hunger affects millions of Americans including hard-working adults, children, veterans and seniors,” said Danna Robinson, communication manager for Harris Teeter. “In an effort to aid in hunger relief, the Company is proud to offer its shoppers and associates a convenient way to help fight hunger through participation in the Million Meals Challenge. The contributions made through these efforts will allow our food bank partners to support the community members they serve.”
The endeavor was developed and will be activated by Harris Teeter and the schools’ respective, athletic multimedia rights holders: Blue Devil IMG Sports Marketing (Duke University); Learfield Sports’ Wolfpack Sports Properties (NC State University); Learfield Sports’ Tar Heel Sports Properties (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill); and Wake Forest IMG Sports Marketing.
"Recent reports show that North Carolina continues to have significantly higher rates of food insecurity than the rest of the country. One in six adults and one in four children lack adequate food during any given month,” said North Carolina Association of Feeding America Food Banks Executive Director Alan Briggs. “Last year, our member food banks provided over 140 million meals to those in need, but that falls short of the demand. That is why we are so excited to partner with Harris Teeter, Learfield Sports and IMG to provide a million more meals to feed our hungry neighbors across North Carolina."