The Statesboro Food Bank has received a $10,000 grant from the Kroger Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, supporting organizational efforts to reduce food insecurity in Bulloch and surrounding counties. 

According to a release from the Food Bank, the grant application, filed in May by Food Bank, Inc. intern, Ebow Barton, was originally written as a school assignment. 

"The notification that we were a grant recipient was such a surprise," Sheila Stewart-Leach, executive director of The Food Bank, said. 

She said the funding from Kroger, received Oct. 31, allowed The Food Bank to respond to the SNAP crisis resulting from the October government shut down.

"In November, we served 3,799 families, a Food Bank, Inc. record,” she said. “We are deeply grateful to the Kroger Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation for investing in the wellbeing of our community.”

Thus far in 2025, The Food Bank, Inc. has provided 1,830,125 meals families and individuals across Bulloch, Candler, Jenkins, Evans, Screven, Effingham, Bryan and Emanuel counties. 

“The Kroger Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation is committed to ending hunger and waste in our communities, and it’s organizations like the Statesboro Food Bank, Inc. that help make this mission a reality,” said Tammie Young-Ennaemba, head of Communication & Public Affairs, The Kroger Co. “At Kroger, our purpose is to Feed the Human Spirit, and the Statesboro Food Bank exemplifies that every day by uplifting the community and ensuring our neighbors in need aren’t going to bed hungry. Together, we are creating stronger, more compassionate communities.”