Dot Foods, Inc., the largest food industry redistributor in North America, has partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) to identify and donate food to disaster relief agencies across the U.S. Since mid-March, Dot has donated more than $10 million worth of food. While Dot immediately began donating to local agencies when COVID hit, it had more product available than the local food banks and pantries surrounding its 12 U.S. distribution centers could take. So, Dot turned to FEMA.
“The relationship with FEMA has given us an opening to work with large national agencies that are in the forefront of disaster relief,” said Suzy Parn, the head of Dot’s corporate charitable program. “In addition to helping our local food banks during this time of unprecedented need, we are making a national impact by donating a large volume of food to disaster areas that are in urgent need.”
To date, Dot has provided over 6 million pounds of product to food banks and disaster relief organizations across the U.S. in 2020,and is still going. Through introductions from FEMA, Dot has given thousands of cases of food items to organizations such as Catholic Charities USA, West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD), and The Food Depot of Sante Fe. Many of the agencies receiving the donations are simply addressing the surge of hunger that has followed in COVID’s wake, such as Convoy of Hope in Springfield, Mo., Southern Baptist Disaster Relief in Chicago and Adventist Community Services of New York and North Carolina.
“This kind of collaboration is a prime example of the good that be accomplished when government and the private sector work together,” said FEMA Administrator Pete T. Gaynor. “We are grateful for this partnership that helps feed so many people at this difficult time.”
Dot also recently donated food to help people in the aftermath of the hurricanes and California wildfires. Dot’s donations contributed to wildfire relief in California, as well as several areas of hurricane relief in Alabama, to tribal lands in Louisiana, and to veteran relief organizations in Louisiana.
“Thank you, Dot Foods for partnering with Global Citizen USA to make such a tremendous impact on communities nationwide affected by natural disasters,” said the Global Citizen USA founder and CEO Beti Vere Atilano. “Together, we’ve helped feed over 15,000 people affected by wildfires and hurricanes, including tribal areas.”
To help Dot transport the donations, FEMA connected the company with Uber Freight. As part of its initiative to donate transportation for 10 million pounds of goods for disaster relief, Uber Freight took care of delivering food from Dot Foods’ Mt. Sterling, Illinois, headquarters to nonprofits across the country. American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), a supply chain non-profit, is also helping FEMA and Dot connect with carriers which will donate their transportation to take the food where it is needed.
Dot Foods continues to support its local agencies as well, including Central Illinois Foodbank of Springfield, Midwest Food Bank of Peoria and Normal, Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis, and Two Rivers Pantries of Brown and Pike Counties.
“Our immediate challenge is to look at the resources we have and find ways to really use those to help others,” Parn continued. “The fact that we have FEMA and Dot Foods and Uber Freight and these many non-profit agencies working together to provide goods to those who need it – that’s a beautiful thing.”
