Kickoff event marks the beginning of month-long in-store fundraising campaign to help support Pennsylvanians facing hunger.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dennis Curtin
Weis Markets, Inc.
570-847-3636
dennis.curtin@weismarkets.com
Twitter @WMKSpokesman
Enola, PA (June 4, 2024) – Weis Markets, PA Dairymen’s Association, Feeding Pennsylvania and American Dairy Association Northeast celebrated World Milk Day and National Dairy Month with the kickoff of the Fill a Glass with Hope® campaign at the company’s Enola, Pennsylvania store.
At the event, Weis Markets donated $5,000 worth of fresh milk to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which has locations in Harrisburg and Williamsport PA. In addition, vendor partners including Upfield US, Kraft Foods, Lactalis Heritage Dairy, Tropicana, Chobani and Dannon along with Weis, together donated $50,000 to support the Fill a Glass with Hope campaign to help ensure Pennsylvanians have access to fresh, nutritious milk. The company also hosted the PA Dairymen’s “Milkshakes on The Moo-ve” truck for attendees to enjoy milkshakes.
“We are deeply committed to supporting our local communities and fighting food insecurity,” said Weis Markets Vice President of Marketing and Advertising Maria Rizzo. “As a local company, we take great pride in partnering with neighboring organizations to ensure our local community members have access to fresh, nutritious milk. Through our Fill a Glass with Hope campaign, and with the generous contributions from our vendor partners, we are able to make a tangible impact on the lives of many Pennsylvanians. We are especially grateful to our customers who join us in this cause by rounding up their grocery payments throughout June.”
Weis Markets customers statewide throughout the month of June can round up their grocery orders at self-checkout to help neighbors facing hunger bring home local, nutritious milk. Donations will be distributed to the following local food banks to purchase milk: Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank, Philabundance, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania, and the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank.
The event featured special appearances from former Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Charlie Batch; Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding; PA Dairy Royalty; local dairy farmer Lolly Lesher of Way-Har Farms; Executive Director of PA Dairymen’s Association Dave Smith; representatives from Feeding Pennsylvania; representatives from American Dairy Association Northeast; and representatives from local food banks and vendors.
“The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association and the dairy farmers of Pennsylvania are very proud to support Fill a Glass with Hope,” said Executive Director of PA Dairymen’s Association Dave Smith. “Our dairy farmers universally believe all persons should have access to protein rich and nutrient dense milk for their diets and Fill a Glass with Hope and supporters like Weis Markets help with the mission of providing access to milk to all.”
“Dairy farmers are not only committed to producing nutritious, wholesome milk, they believe everyone should have access to it. That is why the Fill a Glass with Hope campaign is so meaningful,” said American Dairy Association Northeast CEO John Chrisman. “We thank Weis Markets for their commitment and for their dedication to the communities that they serve.”
“On World Milk Day, we celebrate how dairy delivers for the charitable food network through Fill a Glass with Hope. Milk’s high nutritional value makes it one of the most requested items at food banks,” explained Julie Bancroft, CEO, Feeding Pennsylvania. “We’re grateful to our Fill a Glass with Hope partners and sponsors for ensuring nutritious milk reaches families facing hunger.”
“As we kick off our celebration of National Dairy Month, we highlight that thousands of our neighbors facing hunger will be thrilled to receive fresh milk made possible through Weis Markets’ extraordinary donation today. Ongoing support from Weis Markets, the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, American Dairy Association Northeast, and Pennsylvania dairy farmers powers our innovative fresh milk program, which aligns with our emphasis on providing nutritious food assistance,” said Joe Arthur, CEO of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. “I will also note that we are in a hunger crisis right now due to persistent household cost inflation, and we are asking for others to follow Weis Markets’ example. Please contribute generously as we need more help, more food, and more financial support than ever as the need for our services is now above where it was at the peak of the pandemic.”
Milk is one of the most requested items at food banks but one of the least donated due to perishability. Without milk in the diet, it is difficult to get the recommended essential nutrients for health, especially for children. Milk is the top source of calcium, potassium and Vitamin D in the American diet—nutrients critical to development and growth in children.
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About Weis Markets
Founded in 1912, Weis Markets, Inc. is a Mid Atlantic food retailer operating 196 stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information, please visit: WeisMarkets.com or Facebook.com/WeisMarkets
About Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association:
The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association is the oldest dairy group in Pennsylvania. They have been serving their popular milkshakes at the PA Farm Show since 1953 and spreading milkshake smiles throughout communities for over 71 years. Every Dairymen’s Milkshake supports a great cause. The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association has been supporting “Fill a Glass with Hope®” with agriculture partners, Feeding PA, American Dairy Association NorthEast, corporate partners and food banks since 2015. Over the past nine years, the PA Dairymen have donated more than $4.5 million to programs including The Calving Corner; agricultural and educational projects; initiatives and scholarships; the Fill a Glass with Hope® fresh milk campaign for neighbors in need; the Choose PA Dairy consumer education and awareness campaign; the PA Farm Bureau Mobile Ag Education Lab that travels to schools; the PA Dairy Princess and Promotion Program; FFA; community and school programs; Friends of Agriculture Foundation projects, and much more. Their philanthropic efforts build a brighter future for all Pennsylvanians. For more information, visit www.padairymens.com
About Feeding Pennsylvania
Feeding Pennsylvania is the state association of nine Feeding America-affiliated food banks serving all sixty-seven counties of the Commonwealth. Each year, our member food banks distribute over 164 million pounds of food to 1.5 million people through a network of almost 3,000 agencies and feeding programs. Feeding Pennsylvania’s mission is to aid in securing food and other resources for member food banks and to elevate a united voice to address hunger and food insecurity across the state.
For more information about Feeding Pennsylvania, please visit feedingpa.org.
About American Dairy Association North East
The American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) is the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council® and the regional consolidation of three promotion organizations including the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program. Committed to nutrition education and research-based communications, ADANE provides science-based nutrition information to, and in collaboration with, a variety of stakeholders committed to fostering a healthier nation, including health professionals, educators, school nutrition directors, academia, industry, consumers and media. Funded by dairy checkoff dollars from more than 9,000 dairy farm families in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and northern Virginia, ADANE works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™ to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the North East region. For more information, visit AmericanDairy.com