Guadalupe, Cali., Feb. 22 - Beachside Produce and Total Quality Logistics (TQL) Transportation are partnering to donate and deliver 40,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to the Central Texas Food Bank in Austin, Texas next week, it was announced today.
Both companies felt compelled to assist the hundreds of thousands of Texans devastated by a series of historically frigid winter storms that slammed through the state last week, according to an industry spokesperson. The fresh produce will be harvested and shipped from the Central California coastal community of Guadalupe, California, early this week to the Central Texas Food Bank by Friday, February 26.
“We have been glued to the TV weather and news reports all week as the storms crippled most of the state, and wanted to help the communities of Texas in the best way we could,” said Steve Adlesh, Beachside Produce.
KSBY news reported: Beachside Produce in Guadalupe donates 1,200 food boxes to Central Texas Food Bank
Beachside Produce in Guadalupe is donating 40,000 lbs of fresh vegetables to the Central Texas Food Bank to help feed millions after devastating winter storms. I got a BTS look at how they are getting locally grown produce to Texas tables. @KSBY pic.twitter.com/YB8cIDOHqL
— Megan Healy (@MeganHealyTV) February 23, 2021
According to Adlesh, the grower/owners who today work with Beachside Produce in this coastal California community are the same group that once donated their produce for another notable cross-country shipment in 1990. Over thirty years ago, the company shipped 10 tons of broccoli to then President George H. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush when the President admitted his distaste for broccoli. The shipment helped to raise national awareness of nutrition and was donated to local food banks at the time.
“We’re lucky to work with a great group of growing partners who saw what was happening in Texas and wanted to help,” said Adlesh. “We’re also thankful to TQL for donating the cost of getting the produce from our California fields to the people of Texas.”
“We’re so grateful to Beachside Produce and Total Quality Logistics for this timely shipment of nutritious produce,” said Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank. “Interruptions to the local food supply chain due to the recent winter storms, coupled with already high demand because of the pandemic, have created an acute food insecurity problem in Central Texas. Donations like this will help us put nutritious food on the tables of thousands of our neighbors in need”
About the Central Texas Food Bank: Even before last week’s storms, the impact of the pandemic saw the Central Texas Food Bank distributing 14 million more pounds of food in 2020 than in 2019, up more than 25% from pre-pandemic days. Founded in 1981, the Food Bank provides food and grocery products through a network of nearly 300 Partner Agencies and nutrition programs, serving nearly 60,000 people every week. Headquartered in Austin, the Food Bank serves 21 counties in Central Texas, an area about twice the size of Massachusetts. For more information on the Food Bank and its programs, visit www.centraltexasfoodbank.org.
About Beachside Produce: Beachside Produce, LLC, a well-established grower, packer and marketer of fresh produce, is recognized as the benchmark in premium fresh vegetable products. Launched in July of 2003, and based in Guadalupe, CA, Beachside Produce, LLC produces premium fresh vegetables from the Central California Coast, Imperial Valley, California’s southern desert regions and from Mexican ranches in Baja California. Beachside Produce, LLC is built on the expertise of third and fourth generation grower partners who had the vision to merge their farming businesses into a leading premium fresh vegetable firm.
About Total Quality Logistics (TQL): TQL creates greater supply chain efficiencies for its customers by combining industry-leading technology and unmatched customer service. Customers and carriers turn to us daily to solve their transportation needs with competitive pricing, continuous communication, and a commitment to do it right every time. We move more than 1.8 million loads across the nation annually through our broad portfolio of logistics services and our network of more than 85,000 carriers. In addition, through TQL Cares and the TQL Foundation, our company and employees make the world a better place by donating thousands of volunteer hours and millions of dollars each year. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, TQL is the second-largest brokerage firm in the nation, founded in 1997, with more than 5,000 employees in 57 offices across the U.S. Connect with TQL on the web, on Facebook or on Twitter @TQLogistics
