Dot Foods wanted to make an impact in honor of its 50th anniversary, so the food redistributor sent a commemorative golden trailer to deliver 270,000 pounds of food—equivalent to $315,000—to 11 FeedingAmerica.org food banks across the nation from May through October 2010.
The donated food included peanut butter, tuna, a variety of beans and rice, canned fruits and vegetables, cereal, and oatmeal. Each truckload was delivered to a Feeding America regional food bank. From there, the food was distributed to local agencies near Dot locations. The food banks that received the donations, in order of delivery, include: Central Illinois Foodbank in Springfield IL, River Bend Food Bank in Moline IL, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana in Indianapolis, America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia Inc in Savannah GA, Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Maryland Food Bank in Baltimore, Food Bank of Central New York in East Syracuse NY, The Idaho Foodbank in Boise ID, Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties in Manteca CA, Northern Illinois Food Bank in St Charles IL, and St Louis Area Foodbank in St Louis MO.
“As the donation tour comes to an end, we are humbled as a company to have helped those in need, but we realize that the need is much greater than we can provide,” said Pat Tracy, chairman. “There is no better way to celebrate a successful 50 years than by paying it forward. We know we are blessed to have such success and do not take it for granted.”
In California, the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties marked the eighth stop for the golden trailer. In Maryland, 20 employees from Dot’s Williamsport DC helped unload boxes at the five food banks that received the donation.
After the donations were delivered to the food banks near each of Dot’s distribution centers, employees were given the opportunity to volunteer at the local agencies that received the donated food. In Burley ID, for example, employees helped unload boxes of the donated food at the Minidoka County Senior Center and Golden Heritage Senior Citizen.
For full information, visit www.dotfoods.com.
