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Last month, we made an initial commitment to support local food banks and organizations by providing food and funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across the country, organizations are working tirelessly to manage the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including meeting the increased need for food and implementing additional safety precautions. We checked in with a few of our partners to thank them and to see how they’re adapting their operations as a result of the crisis.

Going door to door in Norwalk, Connecticut

In Norwalk, the location of one of our primary Campbell Snacks offices, Person-to-Person (P2P), helps those in need while educating others about the impact of poverty and injustice. As the COVID-19 crisis intensified in the region, P2P quickly adapted their food pantry and financial assistance operations to ensure they could meet the increased need in their community.

Along with health and safety precautions like social distancing protocols, pre-packed grocery pick-up, and remote casework, P2P developed a new home delivery program called Door2Door to serve the most vulnerable. Volunteers have been making contactless deliveries of essential groceries to the elderly, disabled and homebound, serving as a critical resource to those in need.

Serving clients in Paris, Texas

Paris, home of one of our largest soup-producing plants, is also the home of the Downtown Food Pantry. Since 2009, the Downtown Food Pantry has served the hungry of Lamar County, which, at 23%, has one of the highest food-insecurity rates in Texas.

The Downtown Food Pantry prides itself on reducing waste by offering food options that appeal to most dietary restrictions and tastes, and giving clients the choice to select their own items.

The pantry implemented safety protocols such as encouraging social distancing, eliminating waiting room gatherings, providing hand sanitizer to each client and minimizing the number of clients able to shop at a time.

Helping children of essential workers in Phoenix, Arizona

Due to government and health official guidelines, 15 of Arizona’s Valley of the Sun YMCA locations, near one of our Campbell Snacks plants, were forced to suspend normal operations. The organization quickly reallocated their resources to respond to urgent community needs, most notably by providing emergency childcare for frontline and essential workers.

They’re also making sure each participating child receives three meals a day, which is important because one in four children in Arizona struggles with food insecurity, and these children often rely on school meals to get the nutrition they need. Over the course of four short weeks, Valley of the Sun YMCA has served more than 900 children in emergency childcare and has provided over 13,000 nutritious meals within the program.

“The grant that we received from Campbell is incredibly important to keeping our organization’s emergency childcare and healthy food program going throughout the pandemic,” said Lance Thornton, Executive Director at the Southwest Valley YMCA branch. “Thanks to Campbell and other valued partners, we’ve been able to offer emergency childcare with a 50% scholarship for our essential and frontline workers; helping to relieve the financial burden from those that are taking such good care of us during this difficult time.”

thank you drawings

Adjusting operations in Lakeland, Florida

Located near one of our Snacks plants in Lakeland, Florida, Talbot House Ministries is providing the homeless and hungry of Polk County with food, shelter, medical and dental care. With our grant, Talbot House Ministries can fund essential food, supplies, and personal protective equipment to keep their feeding programs operational as they adjust to a “to-go” format to reduce traffic at their facility.

Some of the new, unforeseen expenses they’ve encountered after shifting operations include the need for individually packaged food and drinks, plastic bags, takeout containers and disposable cutlery for to-go meals.

“Campbell’s support is vital in sustaining our ability to feed the community now and over the next several months as the economic impacts of this pandemic become evident,” said Erin Martinez, Director of Development at Talbot House Ministries.

talbot house volunteer chef

Our community partners are working hard to adapt to provide food and essential services to those in need, and we’re grateful for their commitment.

Learn more about how we’re supporting our hometown communities.

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