A little over two years ago, Lucky’s Market opened its doors in Lexington, providing a source of fresh produce in a part of the city that lacked a major grocery store. With the news this week that Lucky’s has decided to close, we’re saddened that our community will be losing such a good resource.
From the start, the Lucky’s staff have been amazing advocates for reducing food waste. They worked hard each and every day to ensure that any unsellable produce still made it to someone’s plate rather than the garbage. They made gleaning easy for our volunteers, and over time, even formed friendships with many.
In total, Lucky’s has donated about 190,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to GleanKY, making a huge impact on the local feeding landscape. Produce donated by Lucky’s went to support free distribution at a number of sites around Lexington, including the Nest, Moveable Feast, Embrace Church, the Hope Center, Justice House, Lighthouse Ministries, the Catholic Action Center, two East End Good Neighbor Stores, and our neighborhood distribution in Valley Park. With Lucky’s closure, GleanKY will be evaluating ways to continue to support those sites with fresh produce and minimize the impact of losing Lucky’s as a partner.
In addition to directly supporting our mission of gathering and redistributing excess fresh fruits and vegetables to nourish Kentucky’s hungry, Lucky’s was also a financial donor to GleanKY, making us the beneficiary of their 10% For Good and Bags for Change programs.
The impact of our partnership with Lucky’s has extended well beyond Lexington. Noticing how effective the gleaning model was working at the Lexington store, we’ve heard that Lucky’s instituted changes at the corporate level to make gleaning more efficient at their stores across the country. We’re so pleased to have contributed to that legacy.
From all of us at GleanKY – thank you Lucky’s for being our friend and partner these past couple years, and we wish you all the best.