Thanks to whole team at D&D!

D&D Ingredient Distributors, Inc. recently presented a monetary donation of $13,840 to the West Ohio Food Bank.

Based in Lima, Ohio, this non-profit organization is the largest food bank in West Ohio and serves food-insecure families and individuals in the 11-county area, including Allen and Van Wert Counties and D&D’s home town of Delphos.

“We know it takes a community to help provide food to nearly 73,000 people,” said D&D President Arnie Miller. “That number includes some folks in our own home town. They face the challenge of putting food on the table every day.

“I am very proud that our whole team at D&D helped make this donation possible, just by doing the great job they do daily, even as the COVID pandemic makes life difficult for everyone.”

“We are so thankful for this donation,” said Linda Hamilton, retiring CEO of West Ohio Food Bank who accepted the donation at the organization’s warehouse in Lima. “This is another great example of a company… that wants to give back and help our hungry neighbors.”

Incoming food bank CEO Tommie Harner and Jason Aldrich, director of donor relations and communications, welcomed Miller and Mike Wright, D&D’s director of operations and business development, to the food bank. Aldrich explained how the food bank secures donations from national food and grocery manufacturers, retailers, shippers, packers and growers and from government agencies, individuals and other organizations, including special monetary donations from businesses like D&D. The food bank then warehouses, packages, and distributes food to those in need.

Wright described how D&D collaborated with several other agricultural industry companies this past spring — even as the pandemic seriously impacted businesses throughout the food sector. Their goal was to help local communities assist the growing number of people who were becoming increasingly food insecure.

“The program was called Food for Hope,” Wright said, “and involved animal food manufacturers and suppliers across the country. D&D’s donation to the West Ohio Food Bank was our portion of the program’s proceeds. Altogether, the initiative raised over $550,000 for food banks nationwide.”

For more information about the West Ohio Food Bank, visit www.westohiofoodbank.org.