Record generosity ahead of Thanksgiving holiday during Celebrity Bagging event

Abingdon, VA (November 23, 2022) - Generosity was on full display ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday during the 16th Annual Celebrity Bagging event at participating Food City locations across Southwest Virginia.

The event helps support programs across UWSWVA’s cradle-to-career continuum.

According to preliminary numbers from Food City, just over $44,600, a record for the event, was raised across the chain’s entire footprint, with over $27,000 raised here in Southwest Virginia.

“We continue to give thanks to Southwest Virginians and Food City after a very successful day of fellowship, service, and fundraising,” said Travis Staton, President & CEO of United Way of Southwest Virginia. “The residents in our corner of the state continue to support every member of our communities, from our young children to those preparing to enter our workforce. It is because of their generosity that we are able to continue to provide needed services here in Southwest Virginia.”

Food City opens its doors to United Way organizations in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama for an annual event the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. United Way of Southwest Virginia benefits from events at 14 stores, from Pennington Gap in the west to Pulaski in the east.

United Way of Southwest Virginia recruits teams of four to six volunteers in each community to take hour-long shifts bagging groceries. Any tips the volunteers receive are donated to United Way of Southwest Virginia to support its work in an area that covers around 20 percent of the Commonwealth.

For more information visit unitedwayswva.org. A gallery of photos from all 14 stores can be found on our Facebook page.