Ingevity Sponsors Full Year of Lowcountry Food Bank “Fresh for All” Events

Provided

The Lowcountry Food Bank (LCFB) announced today that Ingevity will sponsor 12 monthly LCFB “Fresh for All” events, with $42,000 in financial support. The first Ingevity Fresh for All to serve the community took place today, Tuesday, October 10, from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Arthur Christopher Community Center, 265 Fishburne Street, in downtown Charleston. In addition to their generous financial sponsorship, Ingevity employees have also committed to volunteer at the 12 Fresh for All events which gives them the opportunity to personally serve their community neighbors who face hunger.

“We are pleased that Ingevity is now our partner in the fight to relieve hunger in the Lowcountry,” said Pat Walker, Lowcountry Food Bank President and CEO. “Their generous commitment to fund and staff monthly Fresh for All events will ensure that food-insecure children, families and adults have access to nutritious and delicious produce.”

Many low-income children and their families throughout the Charleston area struggle with devastating consequences associated with food insecurity and malnutrition due to the lack of access to healthy food, especially fresh produce. To overcome barriers that residents in underserved communities face, such as a lack of transportation, high food costs and food deserts, LCFB works with its corporate partners, such as Ingevity, to conduct Fresh for All distributions and provide outreach to the community. Fresh for All events are farmers’ market style distributions, which feature a variety of fresh produce choices that empower food-insecure families to choose, at no-cost, the type and quantity of produce that meets their family’s needs.

Each family selects about 40 pounds of fresh produce. Since poor nutrition can be the result of a lack of education about healthy eating and how to prepare produce, the LCFB also offers food sampling and recipes at each Fresh for All event along with informational flyers for families to take home that include produce selection, preparation and storage tips.

In addition to providing food to fight hunger among food-insecure residents at-large, the LCFB continues to develop targeted food assistance programs to alleviate hunger among children and seniors, two especially vulnerable populations. In 2016, the LCFB partnered with more than 300 food pantries, soup kitchens, after-school programs, low-income senior centers and shelters to distribute 26.2 million pounds of food, of which 25% was fresh produce,  to more than 200,000 food-insecure children, seniors and adults.

“The Lowcountry Food Bank has been a cornerstone of the Charleston area for many years,” said Michael Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ingevity. “This unique partnership will allow us to provide fresh produce to our neighbors in need while helping to positively influence the community around us.”

–

This is an unedited press release

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us