This year’s Be a Sweetheart campaign runs February 8th and 9th. For 17 years, sweethearts have doubled their gift giving by embracing the greater community in their expression of love. For each pound of candy purchased on these two days, Mast Store will donate $1 to a food security partner.

St. Valentine, according to legend, was filled with compassion for lovers who were unable to wed because it was against the law. He would marry couples in secret, cementing their love for one another. During Be a Sweetheart, the Mast Store carries forward that grace and caring by linking a traditional gift of love to providing meals for fellow community members. Modern day sweethearts’ professions of love are no less heroic than those in St. Valentine’s time because they help fill the pantries of food banks.

Mast Store’s food security partners are the real heroes! They do amazing things every day, like changing the $1 donation into three, five, or even seven meals for someone in our local communities. In addition to providing meals, our food bank partners help their clients learn to be smart shoppers and to put together healthy menus even on a budget or offer them a hand up with work opportunities in the catering/restaurant industries.

If your New Year’s Resolutions involved eating less sweet stuff, you can still help out by rounding up your purchase to the next dollar to make a donation. Really, any amount will make a meaningful difference in someone’s life.

Mast Store works closely with the following organizations: the Hunger and Health Coalition (Boone and Valle Crucis), MANNA FoodBank (Waynesville, Hendersonville, and Asheville), Loaves & Fishes (Greenville), Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee (Knoxville), Harvest Hope (Columbia), and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina (Winston-Salem).

It's easy to open your heart and be a Sweetheart this Valentine's Day. No matter where you are, there are people who need your help and what the food security groups do in all communities is amazing. It's proof positive that a little can do ... and means ... a lot!