Since 2011, Les Olson Company has participated in Utah Food Bank‘s Summer Business Food & Fund Drive by hosting a company-wide food drive and encouraging employees to participate during the summer months. In 2013, Les Olson Company became the official sponsor of the Summer Business Food & Fund Drive.
Our partnership with Utah Food Bank began when we were made aware of the issue of childhood hunger intensifying during the summer months when school is out. A lot of us are much more inclined to donate our time and money during the holiday season when the sharp contrast between those who are well off and those who aren’t is most clear. But during the summer, many kids who rely on school lunch and breakfast, don’t know where their next meal will come from.
We believe strongly that it’s our responsibility to improve the communities we do business in, and we made the Summer Business Food Drive a big part of that mission. For the past four years, Les Olson Company employees have been encouraged to donate food, time and money to the Utah Food Bank. Each year, it’s exciting to see our total donations increase and even more exciting to see how it impacts Utah Food Bank in their ability to help those in need around the state of Utah. In our Las Vegas branch, employees donate similarly to Three Square Food Bank to ensure their donations stay in the state of Nevada and in some of our branches, donations were taken directly to local food pantries.
FOOD
This year Les Olson Company employees donated a total of 14,586 Food Items. Employees were encouraged to bring in items that are most needed by the food bank including peanut butter, canned meats, canned fruits, and canned vegetables. Many employees even went the extra mile to host their own food drives within their neighborhoods to maximize their food donations. Collection barrels in each of our offices overflowed with food donations and even had to be emptied halfway through the drive, only to be filled again.
TIME
Each year, one of the most popular ways to give is by volunteering time. Some employees spent time working in Utah Food Bank‘s Warehouse, sorting food, putting together food boxes and working in food rescue. Others made food deliveries to senior citizens or worked distributing food to people who came to their mobile pantry.
Employees in our other branches volunteered their time at various local food pantries, including Three Square Food Bank, Cache Community Pantry, Community Action Services and more. We always hear great things about the experiences our employees have giving their time to these great organizations. Along with their friends and families, our employees volunteer a total of 435 combined hours.
MONEY
And perhaps one of the most exciting parts of our food drive is the amount of money that was donated. This year especially, our employees have been incredibly generous in donating their hard-earned money. Some donated cash, some wrote checks and some made payroll deductions. It all added up to $28,199 to help fight hunger. We are extremely happy about this because Utah Food Bank has incredible purchasing power and will be able to make this money stretch far and wide to help the people that need it most.
If you’ve never been involved with donating food, time or money to your local food bank – we highly recommend it. There are so many rewarding experiences to be had and each year our business improves as employees are unified behind one important cause. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Utah Food Bank and all of the local food pantries doing important work from Logan to Las Vegas.
