In honor of Hunger Action Month, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) members and employees celebrated the company’s core value of community by raising nearly $15,000 to benefit Feeding America’s hurricane relief efforts. Additionally, several DFA brands are providing donations, totaling more than $50,000 worth of dairy products, to help support hurricane victims in Miami and Houston, the Kansas City, Kan.-based cooperative said.
Money was raised through member and employee monetary donations to the DFA Cares Foundation online giving site. The DFA Cares Foundation also made a dollar-for-dollar match for every contribution, up to $5,000, DFA said.
Several DFA brands and members also are making donations to benefit hurricane victims:
- More than 4,300 cases of Sportsman Shake, a dairy-based protein shake, were sent to Convoy of Hope, an international humanitarian-relief organization based in Springfield, Mo., to assist in hurricane relief efforts.
- La Vaquita, the top-selling brand of Hispanic cheese in Houston, is donating 6,000 8-ounce packages of queso fresco cheese to a local food bank in the Houston area.
- Plugrá donated 1,600 pounds of butter to the French Pastry School in Chicago, which then baked 60,000 cookies to support hurricane victims in Miami and Houston.
- Sugar Branch Farms, a DFA family farm in Pennsylvania, collected two trailers and a semi-truck load of donations from its local community and carried the load to Houston to help hurricane victims.
“Hunger is a serious issue today and as a cooperative, we value our ability to help feed those in need,” said Ron Shelton, chairman, DFA Cares Foundation and DFA Board Member. “With farmer members in Texas and Florida, we are committed to helping give back in these local communities and support relief efforts.”
The DFA Cares Foundation was established in 2005 as a nonprofit charitable organization. Through the DFA Cares Foundation, DFA provides disaster relief via product and monetary donations, invests in the future of the industry with scholarships to students pursuing careers in dairy and contributes dairy food and products for those in need, DFA said.
