Plymouth-based Sargento Foods Inc. is donating $2 million in cheese to the Milwaukee-based Hunger Task Force and Feeding America.
The donation amounts to 15.8 million cheese sticks, which Sargento expects to be distributed to 1.3 million households.
“Our long-standing commitment to fighting hunger means more now than ever before. We are grateful to continue our partnership with Hunger Task Force and expand our outreach nationally through Feeding America to help families in Wisconsin and across the nation,” said Louie Gentine, CEO of Sargento Foods. “We want to do our part to address the growing issue of hunger and food insecurity during these challenging times. We are honored to be a vital part of our nation’s food supply and will do everything we can to make sure families have food on the table and to support our community in a real way.”
HTF provides food to a network of emergency food pantries and homeless shelters, serving about 50,000 people each month. The organization expects a higher demand for its services, as more than 725,000 Wisconsinites have become unemployed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in the past two weeks.
“For more than 25 years, Sargento has demonstrated leadership in anti-hunger work as a true partner in our mission to end hunger throughout Wisconsin,” said Sherrie Tussler, executive director of Hunger Task Force. “This donation is yet another demonstration of the amazing support and continuing dedication to help the more than 50,000 people we serve every month which has increased significantly in the face of COVID-19.”
Earlier this week, Hunger Task Force announced it will commit $1 million to a new program aimed at providing relief to dairy farmers while supplying area food pantries with milk. Through the Wisconsin Dairy Recovery Program, which will pay farmers to supply milk to Kemps, Hunger Task Force will distribute the milk to its partner food banks and pantries through the Hunger Relief Federation of Wisconsin.
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