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The Charleston Basket Brigade (CBB) is pleased to announce that Piggly Wiggly is the official 2016 food partner for our 9th annual event.

The 2016 goal is to raise $105,000 to feed 3,500 Charleston Tri-County families (approximately 21,000 people) this year for Thanksgiving. This year the CBB will take place at the Charleston Area Convention Center on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 promptly at 7:00 am. The CBB is a grassroots effort and 100% of donations are utilized to purchase food. A full list of volunteer and fundraising opportunities are available online at www.charlestonbasketbrigade.com.
As the official food partner, all groceries will be purchased from Piggly Wiggly. Piggly Wiggly has also committed an $11,000 discount on food to the Charleston Basket Brigade, and will coordinate all of the food being delivered to the Charleston Area Convention Center for meal assembly.

Lynn Willard, President of Lowcountry Grocers, LLC, said, “We are thrilled to be the food partner for the Charleston Basket Brigade. This is a true local partnership of local people and local companies making a difference. This is an opportunity for our Piggly Wiggly family to help out other families in need. We work and live in this community, and we see the people that need help every day. One hundred percent of the Charleston Basket Brigade effort helps people that are truly in need. It is humbling and exciting to be a part of it.”

Pam Hartley, co-founder of the Charleston Basket Brigade said, “After our first year, we teamed up with Piggly Wiggly in 2009. Piggly Wiggly was the most generous partner to work with and supported our efforts in many ways. We worked with closely with the Pig for several years until the company sold most of its stores throughout Charleston. When Lynn Willard approached us earlier this year about Piggly Wiggly lending its support, we were ecstatic. As a local company, Piggly Wiggly is the perfect match for the Basket Brigade. Our mission is grassroots and heartfelt, and Lynn Willard and his entire Piggly Wiggly team share in our vision and passion to serve our local community. We couldn’t be happier to have them as our grocery partner.”

The CBB was founded in 2008 by close friends Pam Hartley and Michelle Scarafile. What started as a small effort feeding 75 families has grown to serve 3,500 families in its ninth year. In the past eight years, the Charleston Basket Brigade has raised a total of $534,500 and fed 17,839 families in need (approximately 142,712 people; as each meal feeds six to ten people).

It only takes $30 to feed a family of six and every penny raised is utilized to purchase food. Each family receives a box of food to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal including a 10-12 lb. turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, fresh rolls, and a pumpkin pie. Inside the box is an anonymous letter that reads, “This comes to you from someone who cares about you. All we ask is that you take care of yourself well enough to be able to do this for someone else one day.”

Hundreds of Charleston area residents, businesses, schools, churches, organizations raise money and volunteer each and every year to make the Charleston Basket Brigade happen. After a year of fundraising, volunteers gather at the Charleston Area Convention Center to assemble the meals and then hand deliver every single to meal to the receiving families.

To successfully execute the effort, the CBB also partners with Carolina One Real Estate, Communities In Schools, and Momentum Marketing.