by Evan Bourtis and Kristi Blake
News10 WHEC

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Foodlink is once again partnering with Wegmans to call on shoppers to help address food insecurity. It comes as food insecurity is rising in the Rochester region.

The 32nd annual “Check Out Hunger” campaign kicks off Wednesday. Shoppers at all 21 Rochester-area Wegmans stores can donate a few dollars or round up their bill anytime they check out. The money supports Foodlink, which stores and distributes millions of pounds of food to its partners across the 12-county region. Those partners include food pantries, community meal programs, and shelters.

“It really means a lot to us for the community to step up this time of year as we’re approaching the holidays to give back,” said Mark Dwyer, director of marketing and communications of Foodlink.

A report released earlier this year found that food insecurity in the region grew from just over 9% in 2021 to nearly 13% in 2023. That amounts to over 160,000 people facing food insecurity in the 10-county region. That trend may be continuing, with Foodlink seeing a 40% increase in food pantry visits last year.

Dwyer says this is an uncertain time for families because of the federal government shutdown. Foodlink says state residents are expected to continue getting federal food assistance benefits at least through October, but after that, the fate of SNAP is uncertain.

Since the “Check Out Hunger” campaign began, it has raised $15 million for Foodlink. Dwyer says Foodlink can buy three meals for people with every dollar.

“Foodlink’s purchasing power, its connections in bringing in donations, food and funds, allows us to have that multiplier effect,” Dwyer said. “So every dollar equals three meals. And when you think about it that way, the fact that this campaign raised $700,000 last year, transforming that into 2.1 million meals does so much good for this community.”

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