Polar King International and Thermodyne Foodservice Products, together with the North America Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM), recently made a $10,000 donation to the Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, according to Dave Schenkel, Polar King president.
The organizations also joined to donate $10,000 to the same food bank last year.
The donation of $5,000 from Thermodyne and Polar King will provide 20,000 meals to the local Community Harvest Food Bank, which serves nine counties in Northeast Indiana. Because NAFEM matches NAFEM member contributions, this donation will be doubled to provide 40,000 total meals to those fighting hunger in the Fort Wayne area.
“The Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana is a pillar in our community and has distributed more than 14,250,000 meals to our friends and neighbors in need of a warm, fresh meal,” Schenkel said. “We are proud to lend a helping hand, and the matching contribution from NAFEM means we can make a bigger impact in our efforts to alleviate hunger in our community.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in nine people in the U.S. may not know where their next meal is coming from. As foodservice industry leaders, NAFEM and its member companies care about helping people in our communities, especially those who struggle with hunger.
That’s why NAFEM is focusing its social purpose platform on fighting hunger and collaborating with Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S. The Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana is a partner with Feeding America. NAFEM has committed to contributing $300,000 to Feeding America in 2021. NAFEM also will match member contributions up to $200,000 to their local Feeding America member food banks. This could result in overall contributions to Feeding America of $700,000, or 7 million meals.
“When the food bank began, community members were distributing food from the trunks of their cars,” said Carmen Cumberland, Community Harvest executive president. “Today, distribution is streamlined even during this unprecedented health and economic crisis. We are so grateful for this support to operate programs that immediately impact and benefit individuals and families in northeast Indiana.”
