WHOLE FOODS MARKET® to Raise Funds for the Boston Living Center
This November, shoppers at the 13 greater Boston-area locations of Whole Foods Market® (formerly Bread and Circus) can provide meals to people living with HIV who might otherwise go hungry. During the month-long promotion, people have the opportunity to ‘Buy a Meal for Someone Living with HIV/AIDS’ by making a tax-deductible donation of $3.50 (lunch) or $5.00 (dinner) when checking out at the register. The Boston Living Center (BLC) provides more than 40,000 hot and nutritious meals each year to its HIV positive members through its Congregate Meals Program. With approximately 75% of the Boston Living Center’s members living at or below the poverty level, the meal they have at the Center is for many the only hot meal they have each day.
At the end of the month Whole Foods Markets presents the Boston Living Center with a check for the combined value of the donations. Last year the always-generous customers of Whole Foods Market donated more than $23,000 to the BLC.
The 13 participating stores are located in Bedford, Bellingham, Boston, Brighton/Brookline, Cambridge (Central Square, Fresh Pond Mall and River Street), Framingham, Hingham, Newton, Newtonville, Wayland, and Wellesley Hills. Exact store locations can be found at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com.
Founded in 1989, the Boston Living Center is a non-profit community and resource center dedicated to serving all people infected with HIV/AIDS. The Center currently has 2,400 HIV positive members who are able to participate in a range of services in a welcoming and supportive community. In addition to serving a congregate meal six days a week, the Center also provides holistic and mental health services, treatment information, medication adherence programs, employment support, and nutritional consultations. All of the services are designed to help the HIV positive members learn to live with HIV/AIDS. More information about the Center can be found at the BLC’s website: http://www.bostonlivingcenter.org.
“For over nine years the generous customers of Whole Foods Market have supported our members through this annual promotion.” said Cathy Morales, Executive Director of the Boston Living Center. “While many people consider HIV/AIDS to only be a problem of the inner city, our members come from all over eastern Massachusetts, and so we are heartened every year by the generous response of Whole Foods Market customers from throughout the area. All of the programming we offer to our members is provided free of charge and the need for our services continues to grow each year, so we depend on the altruistic support from people like the customers of Whole Foods Market.”
Whole Foods Market is the world’s largest natural and organic foods supermarket and America’s first national certified organic grocer with more than 160 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The Whole Foods Market motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures the company’s mission to find success in customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Whole Foods Market, Harry’s Farmers Market®, and Fresh & Wild® are trademarks owned by Whole Foods Market IP, LP. Whole Foods Market employs more than 30,000 team members and has been ranked for seven consecutive years as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for” in America by Fortune magazine.
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is the state’s leading provider of prevention and wellness services for people vulnerable to HIV infection. It provides services to one in six people in Massachusetts living with an HIV diagnosis. These services include HIV counseling and testing; needle exchange; mental health counseling; housing assistance; and legal services. AIDS Action works to prevent new HIV infections, support those affected by HIV, and tackle the root causes of HIV/AIDS by educating the public and health professionals about HIV prevention and care; and advocating for fair and effective HIV/AIDS policy at the city, state, and federal levels. Founded in 1983, AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is New England’s first and largest AIDS service organization. Learn more at www.aac.org.
