CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) shared that 10,310 students across America have been named Zero Hero award winners through the retailer’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste youth engagement program. Students earned the award for taking action during the 2022-2023 school year to create communities free from hunger and waste and advance United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 and 12: Zero Hunger and Responsible Consumption and Production. During the 2022-2023 school year, Zero Hero student award winners completed 78,800 volunteer hours, generating a community impact value of $2.5 million.
“We are so incredibly proud of and inspired by the passion of these students and their commitment to our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste mission,” said Denise Osterhues, Kroger’s senior director of sustainability and social impact. “The work to serve our communities and help protect our planet will not be achieved by a single generation—it will take all of us. We are thrilled to have Kroger’s Zero Heroes across the country leading the way. May their dedication be an example to everyone that we can make a big difference through service and everyday actions.”
To amplify service opportunities related to Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste impact plan, the retailer developed the youth engagement program in 2019 in collaboration with InnerView—a leading platform to empower student volunteers. InnerView offers paths for students to explore volunteer opportunities, capture service activities, develop skills through impact-driven projects and demonstrate community impact aligned with the UN’s SDGs.
Through the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste youth engagement program, students earn awards and develop a personal service résumé detailing their hours of service and areas of positive social impact. Sample activities include volunteer at a soup kitchen, pack meals at a food bank, help with or organize a food drive or start a school food pantry. Students are encouraged to explore the UN SDGs and engage in volunteer efforts that align with their passions.
New this year, Kroger created a 15-member Youth Advisory Council of committed student leaders across the United States who invested time and talent into pressing issues including hunger, climate, and responsible consumption and recycling. Each student participated in collaborative sessions with guest speakers, discussions on Zero Hunger | Zero Waste, and design challenges to create a Zero Hunger | Zero Waste-aligned Community Impact project, supported by a micro-grant from Kroger.
The Zero Hunger | Zero Waste engagement program is offered to all students ages 14 to 24 in the United States. To learn more about the Zero Hero award and service requirements, please visit here.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit™. We are, across our family of companies nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
