Checkout Giving Funds Regional Food Banks

Grocers running checkout-donation programs can see how a $5 contribution converts to 10 meals through a regional food bank network.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Philanthropy

Stacked empty wooden produce crates and a hand truck on a concrete loading dock, with a soft green treeline beyond an open door. — Big Y's Sack Hunger campaign runs through December 9, turning $5 checkout donations into 10 meals each through four regional food banks. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Would you donate to a food bank campaign at your grocery checkout?

Big Y has launched its annual Sack Hunger campaign to combat food insecurity, with customer donations benefiting four regional food banks through December 9. Each $5 donation provides 10 meals, and operators with stores or sales locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut can see the program's checkout-based collection model.

Why it matters

The campaign runs through the checkout system already in place at Big Y supermarkets, Big Y Express locations, and Table & Vine stores, so it adds a point-of-sale giving option rather than a separate fundraising operation. For regional food retailers, it is a concrete example of how a chain can channel customer goodwill into hunger relief without changing its core merchandising.

Each $5 donation provides 10 meals, and the four beneficiary food banks supply more than 1,400 member agencies across the region. Big Y, which employs more than 10,000 people, runs the campaign at checkout in its supermarkets and convenience locations. Total dollars raised were not reported.

The players

Big Y

Big Y is a family-owned supermarket chain founded in 1936 by brothers Paul and Gerald D'Amour, employing more than 10,000 people across its store network.

Greater Boston Food Bank

The Greater Boston Food Bank is a regional food bank that distributes food to a network of member agencies across eastern Massachusetts.

Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts is a regional food bank that supplies food to member agencies across western Massachusetts.

The details

Customers can donate at checkout registers in Big Y supermarkets, Big Y Express locations, and Table & Vine stores, as well as online. Funds raised benefit Connecticut Foodshare, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, The Greater Boston Food Bank, and the Worcester County Food Bank. Individual store locations also donate fresh meat, produce, bakery items, groceries, frozen foods, and dairy products to local food banks up to six days a week, year-round.

2010: Big Y created the Sack Hunger program.
December 9: Sack Hunger donation acceptance ends.

Market Landscape

Big Y's Sack Hunger program, launched in 2010, is a long-running example of a regional grocer using its checkout system for hunger relief. The campaign pairs in-store collection with daily store-level donations to food banks, a model that depends on existing retail infrastructure rather than standalone fundraising.

Retailers weighing a charitable program should review whether their checkout systems and store-level donation processes can support a campaign like this without added staffing. Operators can also assess whether existing food-donation routines, such as regular store-to-food-bank transfers, could be formalized the way Big Y describes. Any tax treatment of such donations is a question for a qualified accountant.

The takeaway

Sustained in-store donation routines, not one-time drives, are the operating model worth studying here. Operators running a similar program can track the number of store-level donations and checkout participation as simple metrics to measure its reach.