Gleaning produce for charitable organizations is one of several ways that employees of NatureFresh Farms gave to charities in Ontario, Canada, and Ohio, where it has production.
NatureFresh Farms began the holiday season by sending a group of volunteers to Southwestern Ontario Gleaners, a charitable organization in Leamington, Ontario, according to a news release. NatureFresh Farms donates bell peppers to the group throughout the year for soup mix bags, according to the release.
In one session, NatureFresh Farms employees helped prepare about 25,000 servings of soup, according to the release.
NatureFresh Farms employees ran a Holiday Sweepstakes campaign in Fulton County, Ohio, asking residents to nominate five families to receive a helping hand, according to the release.
“Our employees in Ohio really drove this initiative — a lot of them knew neighbors or friends who would benefit from a helping hand during the holidays,” Cornelius Neufeld, operations manager at NatureFresh Farms USA, said in the release. “They came to us asking what NatureFresh could do to support their community — so that’s where it all began.”
The families chosen in the sweepstakes received $500 grocery gift cards and NatureFresh Farms food baskets before Christmas, according to the release.
NatureFresh Farms also conducted a cross-company food drive during the holiday and were able to gather 6,330 non-perishable food items for donation.
Donations were made to The Salvation Army in Leamington and The Open Door in Delta, Ohio.
“These donations were given in my name as a gift from my team — it was incredibly humbling to see how everyone was inspired to give back to people in need in our communities in such a meaningful way,” founder and NatureFresh Farms president Peter Quiring said in the release.
NatureFresh Farms also supported Talking Over Turkey, a Leamington-based initiative that brought hundreds of food boxes to families in need. With the donations from South Essex Fabricating, NatureFresh Farms, and NatureFresh Farms Sales, about 200 Leamington-based families received a holiday food box, according to the release.
