Nourishing Our Communities is Our Calling - Millette Granville

Nourishing Our Communities is Our Calling - Millette Granville

Meet Millette Granville, Food Lion Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, Talent and Organizational Development.  This is her story:

Why do you feel a connection to the Food Lion Feeds work?

I feel a strong connection to Food Lion Feeds because it is our opportunity to give back, support and nourish the communities we serve.  A bright future starts with being able to be physically and mentally strong.  I am proud to work for a company that believes in giving back and supporting our communities in a meaningful way.

Why is a food pantry on a college campus so impactful and important?

Students should never have to choose between books or food. So, we are happy to serve our college campuses with food pantry’s like at Johnson C. Smith University.  Because we want them to focus on their study’s as we nourish them and help set them up for success. It is important to me when I think about various community’s struggling with food insecurity’s and not being able to have the right type of foods, the healthy foods they need to nourish their families.

That is why it gives me great joy to work with a company like Food Lion, a company that is committed to giving back to the community and feeding the hungry as well. Our Food Lion Feeds initiatives are important to the things that we do to serve our community.

Why are you proud to work for Food Lion?

I am proud to work for a company like Food Lion that is committed to not only nourishing our communities but setting our students up for success, and that’s been the case at all of the CIAA schools we’ve partnered with.  For example, at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., we started a food pantry because we want to make sure that students do not have to choose between books or food. It is important as they set themselves up for long-term success that they can focus on their studies, and that is what makes Food Lion Feeds so critical to how we are able to connect, nourish and support our communities.

 When I hear stories from students like Jazmyn, a senior at Johnson C. Smith, who benefited from the pantry, it makes me even more proud to work with Food Lion and the work we are doing around Food Lion Feeds and contributing to college campuses.  We have five new pantries we opened over the last several years on CIAA campuses to support these schools and communities, making sure students do not have to choose between books or food. We want to make sure we are nourishing them so we can help set them up for success.

Why do you personally feel it’s important to focus on ending hunger for younger generations and set them up for success?

Nourishment is critical to the development of the mind and body.  That is why it is important that we focus on alleviating hunger for the younger generation to set them up for success now and in the future.