On Wednesday, Aug. 17, AdvancePierre Foods employees and their families will come together to help community members in need during the company's inaugural volunteer day. The volunteer activities, held in conjunction with food banks near eight of AdvancePierre Foods' facilities, will celebrate the company's commitment to supporting the communities where its employees work, live and raise their families.
"As a company that provides food for millions of families across the country each day, AdvancePierre Foods is proud to be partnering with regional food banks to ensure that individuals in our own communities are able to have well-rounded, hearty meals today and throughout the year," said Bill Toler, CEO of AdvancePierre Foods in a prepared statement.
Hundreds of employees from AdvancePierre Foods' facilities in Iowa, Maine,
North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina will be donating their time to
local food banks, food pantries and at various food distribution sites to ensure that families across the country receive the nourishing food they need. Onsite activities will include packaging items for child feeding programs, assisting with mobile food pantry
distribution, organizing and sorting items at food pantry warehouses, and sprucing up
facilities with painting and maintenance projects.
In addition to the hundreds of volunteer hours that AdvancePierre Foods' employees will contribute on this day, the company will also be donating thousands of pounds of AdvancePierre Foods products to feed those in need.
"For many years, our facilities and our employees have worked individually in their local communities to alleviate hunger," continued Toler. "But as many families across the country face food shortages during these tough economic times, we are proud to be going one step further with our corporate philanthropy efforts by providing our time and our food products to those in need on a much larger scale."
The Volunteer Day activities on August 17 will include:
Iowa
• Orange City, Ia., employees will partner with the Food Bank of Siouxland to distribute food to needy families at a mobile food pantry site at the Forster Community Center, 404 1st Avenue in Rock Rapids from 1 to 3 p.m.
Maine
• Employees from the Portland, Me. facility will be sorting and organizing food items from Noon to 3 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, 3121 Hotel Road in Auburn.
North Carolina
• Claremont, N.C., volunteers will join the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina to fill 1,500 take-home backpacks with food for needy children at 538 1st Avenue SW in Hickory from Noon to 3 p.m.
Ohio
• The Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio and Oberlin Community Service will benefit when Amherst, Ohio employees provide food to community members in need at Oberlin High School, 281 N. Pleasant Street in Oberlin from Noon to 3 p.m.
• At the company headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, volunteers will support the Freestore Foodbank by packaging take-home food items for 500 needy children. The event will take place at 9990 Princeton Glendale Road in Cincinnati from 1 to 4 p.m.
• At Hamilton Living Water Ministry, Inc. in Hamilton, Ohio, employees will be preparing the children's facility for fall activities. The event will take place at 510 S. Eighth Street in Hamilton from 1 to 4 p.m.
Oklahoma
• In Enid, Okla., volunteers will spruce-up two Kids Café Sites (800 S. 5th Street and 729 E. Maine Street) that will serve children in the upcoming school year. Employees will also help the Enid High School Food Pantry get ready for their first year of serving students in need (611 W. Wabash Avenue). These activities will be conducted through the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma from 1 to 4 p.m.
• In partnership with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, volunteers in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma will package items for the Food for Kids Backpack Program at 3355 S. Purdue Avenue in Oklahoma City from 1 to 4 p.m.
South Carolina
• Volunteers in Easley, South Carolina will provide food to many individuals through the Golden Harvest Food Bank's mobile food pantry at 5 Point Church, 315 W. Main Street in Easley from Noon to 2 p.m.
