Walmart encourages Facebook users to 'like' supporting hunger relief

BENTONVILLE, Ark.- As its latest Facebook campaign for hunger relief draws to a close, Walmart is encouraging last-minute "likes" that will help determine which of 100 U.S. cities will receive $1.5 million in grants. The "Fighting Hunger Together" Facebook campaign will end at 12 a.m. on Jan. 1 and is part of the company's $2 billion commitment to help fight hunger through 2015.

At the end of the campaign, the community with the most "likes" will receive $1 million in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. The five communities with the next highest votes will each receive $100,000 in grants. Since Nov. 15, nearly 90,000 votes have been cast. Currently, Fresno, Calif., is leading the way with the most "likes," but Grand Rapids, Mich., and San Antonio, Texas, are not far behind.

"We know that there are people in this country who go hungry every day, so we are doing our part to support some of the neediest communities," said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation. "We launched our Facebook campaign to help spread awareness of this serious issue and encourage everyone to do something to help."

Participants can visit www.facebook.com/walmart or www.walmart.com/fightinghunger and "like" one of the 100 hungriest communities in the United States. These communities were chosen based on a study from the Food Research and Action Center that identifies communities with the highest rates of food hardship in the U.S. during 2010.