Dairy Farmers of America expands commitment to help feed those in need
The cooperative launches program to help community food banks secure much-needed refrigeration and keep them stocked with milk.
As part of Hunger Action Month this September and with the increased demand for food assistance due to COVID-19, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) announced an expanded commitment designed to make a lasting impact in the fight against hunger. Through the DFA Cares Farmers Feeding Families Fund, the dairy cooperative’s 13,000 family farm-owners are donating much-needed refrigeration to rural and community food banks across the country and pledging to keep them stocked with dairy products for the remainder of the year.
“When we launched the Farmers Feeding Families Fund in April, we started working with rural and community food banks, and quickly realized that a lot of these smaller facilities had very limited cold storage, or in some cases, were completely lacking it,” said Jackie Klippenstein, senior vice president of government, industry and community relations for Kansas City, Kan.-based DFA. “Access to refrigeration is one of the largest challenges for food banks to keep fresh foods like dairy on hand. Once we saw this was a need, we felt compelled to step up and help provide long-term infrastructure improvements to ensure food banks have refrigeration, so that they can offer dairy products to the hungry families that they serve.”