Hampton, VA – July 7, 2014 – New England Linebacker Jerod Mayo is partnering with Food Lion Feeds this week to give back to the Hampton, VA, community he calls home by donating enough food for a week to 100 food insecure families. The donation will take place Wednesday, July 9 at 10 a.m. inside the parking lot at the Food Lion store at 2070 Nickerson Blvd. Mayo will be on hand at the event to distribute the food to local families.

“I am very excited to be involved in giving back to the community I grew up in,” said Mayo, “Since food is one of our most basic needs, I felt that this program was the best way for me to provide necessary help to families in Hampton.”

“We are honored to partner with Mr. Mayo to help eliminate hunger in the Hampton community,” said Wanda Marshburn, Food Lion’s director of operations for the Hampton, Va., area. “At Food Lion, we believe no one should have to choose between dinner and paying rent or gasoline and buying groceries. That’s why we’re so passionate about our renewed focus on ending hunger and working to make the lines shorter at local feeding agencies through Food Lion Feeds. Today, we are matching Mr. Mayo’s donation so that we can deliver more than 8,400 meals and 100 Food Lion $50 gift cards to local families.”

According to the 2014 Map the Meal Gap study, an analysis by Feeding America of overall and child food insecurity in the United States, the food insecurity rate across the Greater Peninsula is 13.9 percent, or nearly 74,000 people. Of these people, 1 in 6 are children.

“We cannot thank Mr. Mayo and Food Lion Feeds enough for their gracious donations,” said Michele Benson-Howell, Chief Development Officer of the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. “Summer is a difficult time for us as children are out of school and unable to get free or reduced priced meals, and our donations go down. This donation makes a big impact on local families dealing with hunger.”