All locations of the Mast Store will be asking guests to Be a Sweetheart on February 10 and 11. On these two days, when you purchase your sweetheart’s favorite candy, we’ll match each pound with a $1 donation to our food security partners.

Selecting this traditional gift for Valentine’s Day will give back to our communities in heartwarming ways. Here’s what that thoughtful gift might do:

• Provide healthy snacks for Head Start participants
• Stock the Market with fresh produce & bread to allow clients to shop for foods their families would like
• Supply foods to encourage healthy eating - over 68% of the food distributed in 2016 is recognized by Feeding America as foods that focus on good health, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc.
• Rescue foods from restaurants and other businesses that would otherwise be discarded
• Feed seniors who may never have had to worry about food until their spouse passed away
• Nourish hungry veterans who are struggling to put enough food on their tables

Through partnerships and community contributions, our food security partners can do amazing things, like stretch that $1 donation into multiple meals, help families learn how to shop healthier even on a budget, and even change a life through work opportunities in the restaurant/catering industry.

Guests can make a difference without a candy purchase. Change collection jars are at each register, so donating the change from your transaction can make a big impact on someone’s life.

There are many reasons an individual or a family turns to food security organizations for help – job loss, unexpected medical expenses, taking care of extended family members, etc. It is important that we work together to solve hunger.

Please stop by and visit with our food security partners or learn about how you can join the fight against hunger in your community. We work with 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).