TOPEKA — Walmart and the Walmart Foundation announced that over the last fiscal year they gave more than $8.7 million in cash and in-kind contributions to charitable organizations throughout Kansas. Globally, the company and its Foundation donated more than $1.3 billion to non-profit groups, surpassing the previous year’s total by more than $244 million.
“Walmart aims to cultivate steadfast relationships with organizations across the globe in order to tackle issues that matter most to our customers and associates,” said Mindy Ellis, Walmart regional general manager. “In Kansas, we’ve partnered with many different types of organizations, though each share our same value of bettering the lives of those around us. We’ve taken on challenging initiatives such as hunger relief and economic empowerment, but know that our resources along with the expertise of each individual non-profit, will achieve results to help people live better in Kansas.”
 Additionally, since announcing the historic Fighting Hunger Together commitment in 2010 to donate 1.1 billion pounds of food and $250 million in cash by 2015, Walmart and Sam’s Club facilities have surpassed both goals one year earlier than projected. As of January 2014, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have donated 1.58 billion pounds of food, the equivalent of approximately 1.32 billion meals, and have awarded $260 million in grants to hunger relief programs in the United States, exceeding their original commitment by four percent. Overall, Walmart has exceeded $2 billion of cash and in-kind commitments to fight hunger at the local, state and national levels.  
In Kansas, Walmart donated 3.8 million pounds of food to local food banks — nearly 3.2 million meals in the last fiscal year.  The retailer and its Foundation have partnered with the Topeka Rescue Mission to provide meals to those in need across Topeka.
 “For over 22 years, Walmart has been a faithful and significant contributor to the Topeka Rescue Mission’s challenge to fight poverty and hunger,” said Barry Feaker, Topeka Rescue Mission. “With rising food costs, a growing number of families experience hunger, and without the generosity of many donors, we would not have been able to provide 545,048 meals to the hungry throughout Topeka in 2013. We are extremely grateful to partner with Walmart, as we fight hunger together in our community.”