To further support local community food banks and local food pantries during the holiday season, The Save Mart Companies has announced a storewide Friends Feeding Friends community holiday food drive. As of Wednesday, Nov. 9, customers at all Save Mart, Lucky, and FoodMaxx stores throughout California and Northern Nevada will have the opportunity to easily donate to their community food bank and local food pantry as they check out their groceries.

“Our community food banks and local food pantries serve thousands of families and individuals in our neighborhoods each month and this holiday season we want to help end hunger close to home,” said Donovan Ford, SVP Retail Operations. “The compassionate support from our shoppers will go a long way toward supporting our friends and neighbors during the holidays who are struggling with hunger and any difficulty with feeding their families.”

To make donating to their local food bank easier, shoppers can choose a bag of either $15 or $25 of groceries before they check out. Each bag will be filled with grocery essentials. Once chosen, the bag will be added to shopper’s total grocery bill, and the tax-deductible contribution will be noted on their receipt. To maximize the positive impact on the communities, 100 percent of all donations will go to the community food bank or local food pantry.

Friends Feeding Friends community holiday food drive runs from Nov. 9 through Saturday, Dec. 31. For more information, visit www.thesavemartcompanies.com

The Save Mart Companies, a Kingswood Capital Management, LP portfolio company and a California- based grocer, operates approximately 200 Save Mart, Lucky, and FoodMaxx stores in California and Northern Nevada. In addition to its retail operation, the Company also operates SMART Refrigerated Transport and is a partner in Super Store Industries (“SSI”), which owns and operates a distribution center in Lathrop, and the Sunnyside Farms dairy processing plant in Turlock.