FirstFruits Marketing Donates 250,000 Pounds of Apples

Together with retail partners, FirstFruits Marketing donated over 250,000 pounds of fresh apples to food shelves across the U.S. and Canada through the 2012 Take a Bite Out of Hunger campaign. FirstFruits Marketing created Take a Bite Out of Hunger with the goal of helping feed the underserved while bringing attention to the problem of food insecurity in the United States. This is the second year that FirstFruits Marketing has partnered to make fresh apple donations in a retailer’s name to local food banks. Retailers Sweetbay Supermarkets, Sobeys and United Supermarkets joined Grocery Outlet, Dave’s Marketplace, H-E-B and JH Harveys in filling the shelves of local food banks. “As a first time supporter of the Take a Bite Out of Hunger program we couldn’t be more pleased with the results,” says Kevin Hurley, manager of produce merchandising at Sweetbay Supermarkets. “Our local food banks were so appreciative of the donation; it really felt great to support this initiative.” Donations were made for the second year to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank thanks to Dave’s Marketplace. “Dave’s has been a big supporter of the Take a Bite Out of Hunger program since its start in 2010,” says Dennis Jackson, category manager at FirstFruits. “Being present when the donation was made was really touching and I am proud to work with our retail partners on such a program.” “For the second year our retail partners joined us in supporting a cause that is critical to our mission of helping the underserved,” says Andy Tudor, marketing manager at FirstFruits Marketing of Washington. “We love providing fresh apples to the food banks because fresh and healthy produce is often missing from their pantries. Seeing the difference we can make in these communities is very encouraging and keeps us focused on getting more retailers involved next year.” [caption id="attachment_9099" align="aligncenter" width="418" caption="Charley Di Mascio, produce director, Dave's Marketplace; Bruce Zarembka, director of procurement, Rhode Island Community Food Bank; Dennis Hogan, Dave's Marketplace; Ed Forte, Dave's Marketplace; and Lisa Roth Blackman, chief philanthropy officer, Rhode Island Community Food Bank."][/caption]