New food assistance program will support military families' relocation to U.S. Army Fort Cavazos in Texas
FORT CAVAZOS, Texas, Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Instacart (NASDAQ: CART), the leading grocery technology company in North America, and Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN), a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting military and veteran families, today announced a new partnership to provide free groceries and delivery to military families following relocation to a new base.
Through the initiative at U.S. Army Fort Cavazos, Instacart and MFAN will provide over 100 military families with $100 in monthly Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipends for three months upon relocation to the Army base in central Texas. Families can use the Fresh Funds stipends to purchase nutritious food and other essentials from local retailers including, ALDI and more. The Fresh Funds can also be used to cover the cost of delivery to help busy military families spend more time settling into their new communities and less time traveling to the store.
Designed to help ease the transition and resettlement process for military families relocating to Fort Cavazos, the program is part of a broader pilot MFAN recently announced to support military family well being.
"MFAN believes in bringing the best partners together to meet the data-informed needs of the military families we serve. As we identify dignified, scalable, and measurable solutions to support those experiencing food insecurity, there was no better solution than Instacart and the Fresh Funds stipend," said MFAN President and Executive Director Shannon Razsadin. "We know that food insecurity is a symptom of broader challenges. Through the MFANetwork, together alongside Instacart and our other partners, we will connect families to a network of support while simultaneously ensuring their family has immediate access to healthy food."
The program is also part of Instacart's and MFAN's continuing efforts to advance the White House's National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. As part of that strategy to end hunger and reduce the incidence of diet-related disease, the White House challenged public and private sector organizations to work together to expand access to nutritious food for communities that have historically faced high rates of food insecurity, including the military community.
One in six military and veteran families experience food insecurity or hunger, according to MFAN's latest research, higher than the national average (12%). Among enlisted families, that number climbs to nearly one in four families. Texas is among the states that MFAN's 2021 survey respondents reported the highest frequencies of military and veteran family food insecurity (26.1%).
The organization's research also found that frequent and sometimes sudden permanent change of station (PCS) moves cause even more strain on families, including financial stress due to moving costs and cost-of-living changes.
"Instacart is on a mission to help every family access the nutritious food they need, and that includes families who sacrifice so much for our country every single day," said Laura Anderson, Director of Social Impact at Instacart. "With food insecurity rates rising in the military community and relocation demands contributing added stress and strain for families, we're proud to partner with MFAN and use our Instacart Health technology to help ensure members of the military and their families get a fresh — and healthy — start in their new homes at Fort Cavazos."
The military relocation assistance program at Fort Cavazos is part of Instacart's work under its sweeping Instacart Health initiative. Through Instacart Health, the company is using its technology, partnerships, research and advocacy to fight nutrition insecurity, inspire healthy choices, and scale food as medicine programs.
Sign up for program updates at mfan.org/connect.
About MFAN
The Military Family Advisory Network envisions a world where all military connected families are empowered to thrive. MFAN's mission is to understand and amplify the needs of military-connected families and inspire data-informed change. Visit www.mfan.org.
About Instacart
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 80,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace. Instacart makes it possible for millions of people to get the groceries they need from the retailers they love, and for approximately 600,000 Instacart shoppers to earn by picking, packing and delivering orders on their own flexible schedule. The Instacart Platform offers retailers a suite of enterprise-grade technology products and services to power their e-commerce experiences, fulfill orders, digitize brick-and-mortar stores, provide advertising services, and glean insights. With Instacart Ads, thousands of CPG brands – from category leaders to emerging brands – partner with the company to connect directly with consumers online, right at the point of purchase. With Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to increase nutrition security, make healthy choices easier for consumers, and expand the role that food can play in improving health outcomes. For more information, visit www.instacart.com/company, and to start shopping, visit www.instacart.com.
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SOURCE Instacart
MFAN Press Inquiries: Derek Doyle doyle@mfan.org; Instacart Press Inquiries: press@instacart.com
