Salinas, CA – Ag Against Hunger coordinates an annual fundraiser called the “New York Express” every October. This year, a truckload of donated iceberg lettuce and celery from Salinas was sold at Hunt’s Point in New York City, raising $24,795 for the Salinas based non-profit. Steinbeck Country Produce, Dole Fresh Vegetables, Ocean Mist Farms, Taylor Farms, Tanimura and Antle and The Nunes Company donated pallets of iceberg lettuce and celery for this fundraiser, which benefits Ag Against Hunger’s fall and winter programs.
C.H. Robinson donated the associated delivery costs and transportation for the product that travelled from Salinas to New York. M&R Tomato Distributors, Inc. of New York sold the product, which was coordinated through Denise Goodman, of M&R Tomato, free of charge to benefit Ag Against Hunger.
Alicia Cask, Board Member for Ag Against Hunger and Transportation Planner for Fresh Express/Chiquita says, “We, the Board of Directors of Ag Against Hunger, are so very thankful that we live in an area so rich and diverse in agriculture with very generous produce companies donating to help us in partnering to end the fight against hunger.” The money raised represents nearly 620,000 servings of fresh vegetables and fruit for people utilizing food bank services.
Since 1990, Ag Against Hunger has collected over 210 million pounds of fresh, nutritious surplus produce from over 50 tri-county grower-shippers and distributed it to food banks throughout the West Coast. The produce is distributed in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties first, where it feeds over 158,000 low-income people each month through local food banks. After local needs are satisfied, the produce is then available to over 240 agencies for distribution to millions more in need. To learn more, visit www.agagainsthunger.org, become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @AgAgainstHunger.
Source: Ag Against Hunger
