Product and Monetary Donations
Food donations are a large part of Heinz’s worldwide community service efforts. The tremendous amount of products donated to communities around the world benefits millions of families who are struggling to obtain a nutritious meal.
While we frequently make our biggest product donations to some of the largest food-relief organizations globally, we believe it is also important to support smaller food banks in the communities where we work and live.
Australia
Video courtesy of: Natalie Schenken (reporter), WIN News Bendigo and Central Victoria
Heinz Australia works primarily with five food donation partners, including:
- Ardoch Youth Foundation
- FareShare
- Foodbank
- SecondBite
- Wesley Mission Melbourne
Australia
Heinz employees participated in the Echuca Charity Day.
One of Heinz Australia’s most recent food donation efforts was the Echuca Charity Day. Employees organized, prepared and donated more than 6,000 cases of product for Echuca’s drought-relief efforts. They volunteered to make the products on their day off and contacted suppliers to donate ingredients, packaging and transportation services to deliver the products to the charity.
Other donations in Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009 supported BushFire Relief efforts. The H.J. Heinz Company Foundation donated $25,000 to the International Red Cross relief efforts for Australia. Locally, Heinz donated 4,838 cases of products to affected communities and continues to work with aid groups to respond to ongoing needs. Donations also were made to farmers who have suffered from long-term drought conditions.
Canada
Our Canadian employees have taken generosity to a new level. Since 2001, Heinz Canada has exceeded the $1 million mark in cumulative donations to the United Way. In 2008, more than 95% of employees participated in the Heinz Canada United Way Campaign, raising a total of $237,283. This total included our corporate matching contribution and an average donation of more than $182 per employee.
As economic instability has affected countries around the globe, Heinz has stepped up to help others in need. Our Canadian operations donated food valued at well over $300,000 to food banks across Canada in Fiscal 2009.
Day of Caring
An annual component of Heinz Canada’s United Way Campaign is its “Days of Caring” initiative. Each year, groups of employees volunteer at a United Way member agency supported by the annual campaign. For example, in 2008, 16 employees donated their time and energy at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Toronto. In one morning, the group helped to clear out all the old books on tape, which had been replaced by a digital-on-demand system, and tore down the shelving that used to hold thousands of tapes. Eighty volunteer hours were all it took to make a real difference to one agency in the community.
China
In March 2008, Heinz China donated 1,008 cartons of baby cereal for poverty-stricken children in Lianzhou, Guangdong Province.
Heinz China responded to the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake by donating both products and money to those in need. Support included:
- 15,000 cartons of Heinz baby food were given to the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund
- 1,000 cartons of Heinz cereal and cases of Long Fong® frozen food were provided to the Red Cross Association, Guangdong Branch
- A $100,000 contribution was made to the International Red Cross Association, provided by the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation
- Employee donations were made to the earthquake medical relief team of the Ministry of Health – Guangdong Province and to fellow employees affected by the earthquake
Europe
Dutch Federation of Food Banks
Europe
Heinz employees were very involved in the start of a local food bank in their hometown and continue to volunteer at the food bank today.
Heinz Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg) employees showed great support to the Dutch Federation of Food Banks. In addition to donating products and money valued at hundreds of thousands of euros on a yearly basis, employees were very involved in the start of a local food bank in their hometown and continue to volunteer at the food bank today. They also provide logistical advice to the Rotterdam Food Bank and risk analysis for the Amsterdam Food Bank.
Japan
Second Harvest Japan receives more than 10 tons of food donations from Heinz Japan annually.
United States
Each year, Heinz donates hundreds of thousands of pounds of products to Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest), the largest charitable hunger-relief organization in the U.S. The food is distributed to food banks throughout the U.S.
As part of the launch of the new Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® Morning Express™ line of breakfast items, Heinz donated $100,000 to Share Our Strength, a national organization committed to making sure no child in America grows up hungry.
Venezuela
An extensive product donation program provides deliveries three times a year to 29 non-profit organizations (24 are located in the five communities near the Heinz factory and five are in Caracas, where the Heinz affiliate headquarters office is located). The donation beneficiaries include nearly 1,000 children and teenagers, 280 adults and more than 350 elderly citizens.