In honor of June Dairy Month, Dairy Farmers of America members and employees again supported the DFA Cares Foundation with the second annual DFA Cares Fight Against Hunger. Through a combination of volunteer hours, food donations and fundraisers, more than 100,000 meals were made possible for those in need. Community outreach programs such as the annual June Dairy Month campaign are a key focus area for DFA Cares Foundation, which has operated since 2005 as a .
Across the nation, the effort encouraged members and employees to participate in diverse and creative ways:
- A grilled cheese cook-off in the Northeast Area encouraged employees to vote with nonperishable food items for their favorite sandwich creation. The winner was a bacon grilled cheese; the event generated 160 canned and nonperishable items to benefit the Food Bank of Central New York.
- Activities in the Mideast Area ranged from a pizza party fundraiser to food donations from attendees at the monthly Mideast Area Council meeting.
- Employees also hosted a food drive and volunteer event, all combined to deliver more than 8,800 meals for the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank.
- Kansas City employees representing DFA’s Central Area and headquarters office participated in a series of five three-hour volunteer events at Harvesters Community Food Network, where they sorted and packaged more than 30,000 pounds of dried goods and produce. Employees also filled bins with nearly 1,100 pounds of food for donation to Harvesters.
- An ice cream social, food drive and volunteer event in the Southeast Area resulted in nearly 3,500 meals for the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee and First Baptist Church in Rogers, Ark.
- In DFA’s Mountain Area, Young Cooperators in Utah and Colorado attended family activity events where the cost of admission was a bag of nonperishable food items, which generated nearly 1,000 meals for the Utah Food Bank and Denver Cares.
- Southwest Area staff organized food drives, raised funds and participated in a kitchen volunteer event for the Tarrant County Food Bank, providing nearly 2,000 meals overall.
- A food drive in the Western Area generated donations in support of Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin & Stanislaus Counties.
- In addition, 10 pallets of Borden Cheese products were donated to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, and DFA’s Contract Manufacturing division made a monetary donation representing 8,000 meals for Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks.
Source: Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA)