by Tanya Gazdik , 4 hours ago
Instacart is inviting consumers to donate the value of their last grocery cart to Feeding America to support communities struggling with food insecurity.
Through Aug. 14, every dollar raised will go to help fight hunger and Instacart will match each donation, up to 1 million meals to Feeding America's member food banks in support of the #GiveFromTheCart challenge.
Consumers can create a #GiveFromTheCart heart out of their groceries, take a photo and share it on their social channels.
Tennis icon Serena Williams is kicking off the challenge by making the first donation of the campaign, donating 50,000 meals to Feeding America and sharing her "grocery heart" with her more than 12 million Instagram followers.
Instacart is one of a handful of companies who have seen huge gains this year, due in large part to changing consumer habits fueled by the pandemic. Orders have increased by as much as 500% year-over-year, and app downloads were up 218% month-over-month in March.
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Instacart’s share of the online grocery market got as high as 55% in the third week of May, up from about 30% in February, per Second Measure data.
COVID-19 created a “massive shift” for the grocery industry and forever changed how people view the necessity of on-demand services, said Apoorva Mehta, founder and chief executive officer of Instacart.
"Our mission is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together,” Mehta said in a release. "We believe that groceries are more than just food -- they're an expression of warmth and connection.”
COVID-19 has put a strain on the Feeding America network food bank, said Casey Marsh, chief development officer at Feeding America.
In June, Instacart donated 2 million meals to the Feeding America member food banks that support the 10 counties with the highest food insecurity rates in the nation.
