Several organizations accept milk donations if you want to donate milk to a food bank. Check out the Great American Milk Drive, Mohawk Dairy Co-op, Tops Friendly Markets, and Colonial Farm Credit. These organizations can provide your community with the milk it needs.
The Great American Milk Drive
The Great American Milk Drive is a nationwide campaign that helps provide fresh milk to needy people. Milk companies and dairy farmers have partnered with Feeding America to create this campaign to help millions of children and families. You can make a difference by making a small donation to support this cause. Your donation will provide a gallon of milk to a hungry family in your community.
Milk is a food staple that many people take for granted, but it is often the least donated. Sadly, nearly one in seven Americans struggle with hunger. Approximately 12 million food banks in the United States help provide meals to these families. Milk is one of the most requested items at food banks, but it is rarely donated. Feeding America’s program allows consumers to donate milk easily and make a difference in the lives of local families and children.
Hy-Vee stores spearheaded the Great American Milk Drive campaign. When shoppers purchased milk, cashiers would ask customers to donate a dollar amount for every gallon. The Food Bank of Iowa reported record-breaking results from this initiative. As a result, a record amount of Dairy Pure milk was donated to the organization. In Iowa, Hy-Vee stores partnered with the Food Bank of Iowa to make this drive a nationwide success.
The Great American Milk Drive is a national program that brings together the dairy industry and Feeding America to deliver milk to local families in need. In 2013, the program collected $237,000 in donations and had over 58,000 gallons of milk to Feeding America food banks. This drive is a great way to spread awareness and generate incremental sales of milk gallons while driving new consumer foot traffic. The Great American Milk Drive also provides retailers customizable messaging and turnkey assets for their checkout programs. Finally, the program builds community connections and fosters community involvement.
Milk is an essential food item for children and adults in need. Children are the most likely to experience hunger in America, and a gallon of milk is vital for their nutritional well-being. Milk provides essential nutrients and high-quality protein. During the school year, 22 million children depend on free or reduced-price school meals. Milk is also the most frequently requested item in food banks.
Mohawk Dairy Co-op
The Mohawk Dairy Co-op is donating milk to local food pantries through a program called “Must Be the Milk.” The national initiative provides food to hungry families, and this initiative has a local touch too. It involves the New England Dairy Promotion Board and Guida’s Dairy farms in New England. It also requires community partners like Adams Hometown Market, Better Valu, and Tri-Town Foods.
The Mohawk Dairy Co-op, owned by dairy farmers in New England, has donated 3,000 gallons of milk to local food banks. In addition to the milk, the dairy donated a truckload of apples, cabbage, and other items to help those in need. The donations were distributed by Litchfield County 4-H, with Fairfield County Food Bank transporting them to food pantries in the state.
The donation also helps feed people affected by the recent hurricanes in Georgia and Alabama. Kroger, a major grocery chain, partners with farmers and dairy cooperatives to donate milk to area food banks. The company has also partnered with the Dairy Farmers of America to donate milk to food banks. The company will also donate milk to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, YMCA Van Buren, and New Beginnings in Youngstown.
Mohawk Dairy Co-op has donated over 24,000 half-gallons of milk to local food pantries in the past two years. The dairy company has also donated more than 24,000 pounds of butter, sour cream, and yogurt to various local food banks. The donations have also gone to the food pantries in Connecticut and Wisconsin.
Milk donations to food banks are becoming increasingly common, and the Co-op and its farmers are responding to the demand. It donates milk processed by a cooperative to local food banks in Denver, Boulder, and Greeley. Donated milk is a critical ingredient for nourishing people.
Tops Friendly Markets
The Tops grocery store opened on Buffalo’s East Side in 2003, filling a crucial need in the Masten Park neighborhood and surrounding areas. Before the market opened, residents were forced to travel to other communities to purchase healthy food or to settle for corner stores that sold more expensive staples. This lack of grocery options highlighted the racial and economic divide in Buffalo.
Today, the company has over 130 locations in Upstate New York. The corporate offices are located in Williamsville, New York. The original store was founded in Niagara Falls by Thomas Buscaglia and Armand Castellani, who developed the business model together for the next decade.
Tops Friendly Markets has significantly contributed to the area’s food banks. Its contribution this year alone has provided nearly 2.5 million meals to people in need throughout the region. More than 150 of its locations participate in the Check Out Hunger campaign. This initiative has raised more than $4 million for local food banks.
The history of Tops Friendly Markets is fascinating. The company had a brief run-in with bankruptcy and eventually launched its organic grocery store. It has over 150 locations in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. It also offers an extensive deli, doughnuts, and take-and-bake pizza.
Tops Friendly Markets donated thousands of milk to the Food Bank of Western New York. The company partnered with the Great American Milk Drive to present. In this campaign, customers can redeem Monopoly game tickets for half-gallons of milk at participating stores, and Tops will match the donations and donate the half-gallon of milk to their local food bank.
Colonial Farm Credit
Milk is one of the most requested food items at food banks, yet it is also one of the least donated. By partnering with local food banks and the dairy industry, Colonial Farm Credit hopes to reduce the number of hungry people without this essential dairy goodness. Over 24 weeks, the bank will purchase 700 gallons of milk for seven food banks throughout Virginia. It is the first statewide program of its kind.
In addition to milk donations, Colonial Farm Credit has partnered with MidAtlantic Farm Credit of the Virginias to help fight the issue of food insecurity. These organizations have a collaborative donation program to help the Federation of Virginia Food Banks cover transportation and cold storage expenses. In addition, they will provide financial assistance to farmers affected by the pandemic.
