Nash Finch Company (NASDAQ: NAFC) today announced that Chief Executive Officer Alec Covington and his wife Gail are donating a truckload of food to Hope For The City, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit, for distribution to local food shelves and agencies. Nash Finch Company, through its NFC Foundation, plans to match the Covingtons’ personal contribution by donating an additional truckload of food. Approximately 44 tons of food will be distributed through Hope For The City as a result of these two donations.

“Gail and I have long believed we each have the responsibility to give back to our communities, to the level of our abilities,” stated Alec Covington, Nash Finch CEO. “The urgent need to fill our communities’ food shelves was brought home to me last week when the Nash Finch senior executive team and I visited the Dorothy Day Center in Saint Paul. We enjoyed lunch with the Center’s guests, heard first hand about the great need in our communities, and witnessed the volunteerism of the people who had been served by the Center. When we toured the Dorothy Day Center’s food bank area and saw the empty shelves, I knew it was a time for immediate action.”

Brian Numainville, Chair of the NFC Foundation – Nash Finch Company’s charitable giving arm – commented, “There are many people across Minnesota who do not have enough to eat and the need has been magnified by the current economic climate. We are very pleased to support the Covingtons’ call to action for additional donations to help the hungry in our community. The NFC Foundation has long-assisted organizations addressing hunger issues including Catholic Charities, Emergency Food Shelf Network, Hope For The City, Loaves & Fishes, Open Arms of Minnesota, and food banks throughout the many states in which Nash Finch operates distribution centers.

Hope For The City will distribute the donated food to community partners and food shelves. A brief ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. on June 4, 2009, at the Hope For The City warehouse located at 7003 Oxford Street in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

The Challenge

According to Hunger Solutions Minnesota, one in seventeen Minnesotans relies upon local food shelves to help feed his or her family. Last year, there were 2 million visits and 47 million pounds of food distributed at Minnesota’s 300 food shelves. There has been a 62 percent increase in visits to food shelves since 2000 and in 2009 alone, the visits have doubled and even tripled.

“I passionately believe that this is the time for action,” continued Covington. “And so today, I challenge other business leaders in the Twin Cities area to personally join Gail and me in this effort and make a donation.”

“Associates in the Minneapolis Nash Finch office are currently conducting a food drive to support hunger needs in the Twin Cities,” Numainville explained. “The Foundation has issued a challenge to our associates to match the Covingtons’ gift of a truckload of food. I am pleased to announce that the Company, through the NFC Foundation, will match the employees’ donations toward filling that truckload.”

Megan Doyle, Co-Founder of Hope For The City expressed gratitude for the donations: “We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Alec and Gail Covington, Nash Finch Company, and the NFC Foundation for taking a leadership role regarding the important issue of hunger. We hope that others in the Twin Cities business community rise to the occasion and join with Nash Finch and the Covingtons by donating food to help those without enough to eat.”