More companies helping with coronavirus fight
The company has made a donation of its top brands, Peak and Three Crowns milk, to support families in low-end communities and vulnerable groups at risk of compromising their nutritional needs, thereby reducing their immunity to diseases.
FrieslandCampina WAMCO has also made a donation of hygiene items to support healthcare professionals.
Managing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Ben Langat, said, "These are challenging times; this pandemic is testing our care for each other, and we must all rise up to the challenge. As a company, our mission is to nourish Nigerians with quality dairy nutrition, so we will continue to ensure our products are accessible so as to provide as many Nigerians as possible with essential nutrients from milk. We are committed to living this mission, more so in the face of the COVID-19 threat. I thank our teams, who are making huge sacrifices every day to ensure this."
FrieslandCampina WAMCO made its donation in partnership with the Lagos State Government and the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development, to get the nutrition relief package to the communities where they are most needed.
Executive director, corporate affairs, Ore Famurewa said, "We commend the incredible courage and resilience displayed by healthcare professionals and others at the frontline of this fight. We encourage Nigerians to stay healthy and safe.
"Every day FrieslandCampina WAMCO provides millions of Nigerians with dairy products that are rich in valuable nutrients from milk. Producing good and healthy dairy products is at the core of who we are and of everything we do. Our unique grass to glass proposition under the Dairy Development Programme, supports the Federal Government agenda for local food sufficiency."
ADM partners with Médecins Sans Frontières
Ingredient provider ADM has announced a partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (also known as doctors without borders) to support the emergency response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic across Europe and further afield.
The company has made a $50,000 donation through ADM Cares, the company’s social-investment program, and is part of a wider commitment to help various organizations including the WHO and other regional organizations involved in the ongoing crisis.
The financial aid to MSF will be used to fund emergency responses including supporting nursing homes for the elderly, providing technical support and medical training and advice to healthcare sectors, and assisting other vulnerable people, such as the homeless and migrants.
Elderly populations are among the most vulnerable to severe infection from COVID-19. MSF has extended activities to support nursing homes for the elderly. The MSF teams, comprised of doctors, nurses and hygiene experts, are supporting staff and local municipalities to set up infection prevention and control (IPC) measures.
Healthcare establishments have been severely hit by the sudden influx of patients. MSF is supporting hospitals and keeping medical staff safe by setting up additional healthcare facilities, providing logistical support, collaborating with health authorities to expand hospital capacity, and establishing mobile medical teams to care for people with COVID-19 who do not meet the criteria for hospital admission.
MSF also assists vulnerable groups, such as the homeless and migrants, living in precarious conditions, people living in overcrowded conditions, on the streets, in makeshift camps or in substandard housing who are at risk. The team has increased emergency shelters, provided logistical support and healthcare to vulnerable people and provided trainings to staff and volunteers.
“MSF is responding to the emergency generated by the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. We are collaborating with health authorities, and providing our advice, knowledge and years of experience in managing epidemics and health crises,” José Michelena, director of communications & fundraising at MSF Switzerland, said.
“In parallel, we continue to maintain the continuity of our projects around the world, while protecting our health workers and looking after our patients. We can do all of this thanks to support from companies like ADM. This gives us the certainty that only together can we win this battle, because together we are stronger. On behalf of all our teams and all our patients, I thank ADM for being at our side.”
JoYo’s helping
In the US, Hoboken-based JoYo's yogurt is a quick-and-easy energy boost with the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, and it can be tossed in a bag and taken anywhere.
Each pouch includes a 3.5-ounce serving of yogurt made from clean ingredients, including milk from a small, family farm in upstate New York, strawberry puree, organic apple cider vinegar and organic blue agave.
The company was founded by busy mom Marina Christmas, who needed energy boosts but grew tired of her coffee getting cold and the jitters that come with energy drinks.
Christmas has delivered tens of thousands of free JoYo pouches to first-responders and medical personnel, and is continuing the efforts this week to hospitals, police departments, fire departments and food banks around New York City and New Jersey.
Bel Group takes action
On April 16, 4,000 employees at 12 production sites within Bel group, located in 20 different countries, dedicated their work day to an essential need: supporting those who are contributing to the fight against the Covid-19 crisis every day and taking concrete action on the ground with the most exposed populations.
On this solidarity day, the production of Laughing Cow worldwide was devoted to donations (financial or in-kind), which will be given to food banks, hospitals and associations in the 20 countries mobilized to answer the local needs.
In total, the equivalent of 20m servings of The Laughing Cow produced on the day enabled countries to form a large chain of international solidarity.
The countries mobilized as part of this international action are Canada, France, as well as several countries in Europe, in Africa, in Asia and in the Middle East.
Antoine Fievet, Bel group president and CEO, said, "In this unprecedented pandemic context, we want to wholeheartedly contribute to the collective effort, through the link which binds The Laughing Cow and families everywhere around the world. I commend the courage and commitment of our teams who are relentlessly mobilized, and are our solidarity relays. Our brand carries the values of generosity and positive spirit that are so important to share with those most in need in these difficult times."
In Canada, the company supported its food bank partners with a $75,000 donation. Moisson Montreal, Moisson Rive Sud, Moisson Québec, the Calgary Food bank et the Salvation Army Food bank in Toronto will each receive a $15,000 donation.
All year, Bel Canada's unsold products are given to these partners. This represented 6m portions in 2019. For the past three years, employees also participate in a volunteer activity at Moisson Montreal, on the shop floor, to sort and pack the food received from supermarkets, and support associations helping people in need.
Two Good making donations
In the US, Two Good yogurt, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and as part of the brand’s journey to reduce food waste and redirect it to those in need facing food insecurity, will donate 100% of its profits (after expenses), up to $100,000, in store and online at select retailers during Earth Week (April 20-26, 2020).
Beneficiaries will be food recovery organizations City Harvest and We Don’t Waste, making a positive impact on food access in local New York and Denver communities. These organizations rescue food that would otherwise be wasted and instead redistribute it to individuals in their communities who face food insecurity.
Participating retailers include Kroger, Fresh Thyme, Albertsons Safeway (NorCal/Seattle), Jewel, Walmart (OH, PA, WV, NY, IL IN, MO, WI, FL), ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Giant Martin, and nationwide online on Instacart.
As part of the Danone North America portfolio, Two Good also played a role in the company’s recent $1.5m donation to provide support to food bank and food rescue organizations during the COVID-19 crisis.
Dairy Farmers of America members donate
Family farm-owners and employees of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national dairy cooperative, are holding events such as drive-by milk giveaways at schools and donating fluid milk directly to food banks, and now the DFA is launching its Farmers Feeding Families Fund, which hopes to raise $500,000 for community food banks across the country. Initial seed money of $200,000 has already been raised through the Cooperative's DFA Cares Foundation.
As demand for food assistance rises during the outbreak, Feeding America, with its more than 200 affiliates across the country, has projected a $1.4bn shortfall in the next six months alone.
DFA has identified 30 communities across the country whose local food banks will receive funds to purchase dairy products. In addition, DFA farmer-owners are being asked to help identify additional rural communities in need of dairy products for distribution.
Beyond the monetary donation to food banks, DFA is also working with industry leaders and milk processors across the country to come up with solutions and uses for surplus milk due to declines in foodservice demand as a result of COVID-19.
Examples include donating more than 9,500 half gallons of milk to the Connecticut Food Bank in conjunction with DFA-owned Guida's Dairy; partnering with Daisy Brand to donate 120,000 pounds of cottage cheese over a six-week period to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and other local food banks throughout Ohio; working with the American Dairy Association North East and local Dean Foods plants in New York and Pennsylvania to provide more than 36,000 half gallon jugs of milk to City Harvest in Brooklyn, N.Y., Share Food Program in Philadelphia, Pa., and Rolling Harvest in Highstown, N.J., and more than 4,000 gallon jugs to Corinth Central School District in Corinth, N.Y.; and coordinating with Dean Foods plants in Texas to donate milk to local food banks in the area.
