FedUp Foods - Community Impact Program

Origins:

As grocery prices continue to rise, healthy food has become one of the first compromises many families are forced to make. At FedUp Foods, we believe everyone deserves access to nourishing, high-quality food and beverages, regardless of their circumstances. As a company dedicated to producing affordable, private label functional beverages, expanding food accessibility is an extension of our purpose. That commitment comes to life through year-round partnerships with organizations working on the front lines of hunger relief in the communities where we operate. In Western North Carolina, we continue our partnership with MANNA FoodBank, which includes supporting MANNA Packs, pre-made packs of food for kids to take home on the weekend and the School Pantries programs. In 2026, our executive leadership team volunteered at MANNA's Pack to Give Back event. We partnered with Beacon of Hope, who has served low-income families in Madison and surrounding counties for over a quarter century, to sponsor Beacon of Hope's Empty Bowls fundraiser and donate 1,500 cans of functional beverages to expand access to nutritious beverage options for families experiencing food insecurity. In Wilmington, we partnered with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina to strengthen regional food distribution efforts and we supported The Good Shepherd Center's Empty Bowls fundraiser, supporting its integrated approach to providing meals, shelter, and long-term stability for neighbors facing homelessness and hunger. By investing our products and our resources where they are needed most, FedUp Foods is helping hunger relief for North Carolina families today while building stronger, more resilient communities for tomorrow.

Contribution:

Our company’s contribution intentionally blends monetary donations and product donations to maximize our impact. On the financial front, we provided $20,000 in direct funding distributed equally across three critical regional initiatives. This included The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (Wilmington Branch), The Good Shepherd Center’s March Empty Bowls event, Beacon of Hope’s April Empty Bowls event, and MANNA Food Bank’s Pack to Give Back Event. In this year alone, we coordinated a product donation of over 2,000 cans of better-for-you soda to MANNA Food Bank and Beacon of Hope. Our executive leadership team volunteered at MANNA Food Bank’s Pack to Give Back event in June, helping pack more than 24,000 pounds of dried beans, which raised awareness of food insecurity across the mountains and the mission of MANNA Food Bank.

Objectives:

As a purpose-driven company rooted in integrity and impact, FedUp Foods leverages its resources to champion food justice and address the primary hardships facing our local communities. We aim to deepen our regional impact by strategically investing in vital organizations that combat food insecurity, uplift vulnerable populations, and foster long-term community resilience. We invest in The Good Shepherd Center to directly address the intersection of homelessness and hunger in our Greenfield Street neighborhood, helping families achieve self-sufficiency. In WNC, we support Beacon of Hope to combat food insecurity and empower individuals and families in need in the Marshall community. Regionally, we partner with MANNA Food Bank to involve, educate, and unite people in the work of ending hunger in Western North Carolina. Finally, supporting the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina champions the universal right to healthy meals, driving systemic change for everyone.

Impact:

After Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, many families in our own backyard faced unprecedented food insecurity at the same time rising grocery prices were making healthy food increasingly difficult to afford. At FedUp Foods, we believed we had both the responsibility and the ability to help. Our community investments combined financial support and product donations to strengthen the region's emergency food network. We contributed $20,000 to local hunger-relief organizations, including MANNA FoodBank, Beacon of Hope, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, and The Good Shepherd Center. Members of our team also helped pack 24,000 pounds of dried beans for MANNA FoodBank, helping move nutritious food into the hands of families across Western North Carolina, while donating more than 2,000 cans of organic functional beverages to local food access partners. The need has never been greater. In the year following Hurricane Helene, MANNA distributed more than 23 million pounds of food, providing over 19 million meals and serving an average of 191,320 neighbor visits every month, the highest sustained demand in the organization's history. During disaster response alone, MANNA provided 20.3 million meals across the region after losing its own warehouse to the storm. While our contributions represent a small piece of this collective effort, they reflect our commitment to ensuring our neighbors have reliable access to nutritious food. For us, community uplift means standing with the communities and neighbors where we operate, not only in moments of crisis, but throughout the long recovery that follows.

Quote:

“At FedUp Foods, food security is at the core of who we are. We believe that good, wholesome food is a basic right, and ensuring our neighbors have access to it is a responsibility we carry close to our hearts. Standing alongside partners like MANNA, Beacon of Hope, and The Good Shepherd Center is deeply humbling. We are honored to do this work, because at the end of the day, nourishing people is the most important thing we can do.”

— David Gray, CEO, FedUp Foods

Support Statement:

“We are absolutely thrilled to partner with FedUp Foods for Empty Bowls and are incredibly grateful for their support as a Golden Ladle Sponsor. A monetary commitment means so much to our Soup Kitchen and food programs, and we truly couldn’t do this work without partners like them.”

- Meagan Hutchings, Senior Director of Development, Good Shepherd Center