Western States, Albertsons and Wells Fargo Help Dump Hunger

Dump Hunger food drive fills more than nine dump trucks with food to support communities across Intermountain West

In 2012, 748,465 lbs. of food were collected, equivalent to nearly 10 dump truck loads. This year's goal is to fill five CAT 730 dump trucks with 375,000 pounds of food.
In 2012, 748,465 lbs. of food were collected, equivalent to nearly 10 dump truck loads. This year's goal is to fill five CAT 730 dump trucks with 375,000 pounds of food.

Meridian, ID – With just two weeks to go in the post-holiday food drive and only one of four dump trucks filled, communities across the Intermountain West rallied together with Western States, Albertsons and Wells Fargo to set a new Dump Hunger food-raising record. This year, 748,465 lbs. of food were collected, equivalent to nearly 10 trucks and exceeding the campaign goal by 448,465 lbs. Most importantly, the food donation comes at a time of year when food banks need help most, with many serving more members of the community than ever before.

"Every year, the need for food increases in the communities where we work and live and so does our goal for Dump Hunger,” said Western States President Tom Harris. “I could not be more proud of our employees, customers, partners and friends in the community who make this food drive a success, especially this year when we needed additional support in the final weeks to meet and exceed our goal. Just as Dump Hunger was created to help food banks during their time of greatest need, everyone stepped up when we needed it most.”

The goal of the Dump Hunger campaign this year was to secure enough food to fill the bed of four CAT 730 dump trucks, which are individually capable of holding 75,000 lbs. of food. To date, Dump Hunger has gathered 1,981,482 lbs. of food for the communities it serves.

“As your neighborhood grocer, we are committed to giving back to the communities we serve in ways that make a significant impact," said Mike Clawson, president of ALBERTSONS Intermountain West. "Dump Hunger shows how powerful that impact can be when like-minded partners collaborate with communities to tackle challenging problems like fighting hunger. It brings out the best in us and everyone across the community when we rally together to support our friends and neighbors in times of need.”

“Once we heard about Dump Hunger, we knew it would be a great opportunity to invest in our communities in a unique and powerful way,” said Dana Reddington, Idaho Region president, Wells Fargo. “We’re thankful to be part of the most successful year ever and humbled by the passion that our team members and partners displayed throughout the campaign. It takes phenomenal efforts from everyone to achieve the success we did with Dump Hunger this year and support more than 25 community food banks in the process.”

The final total includes a gift card contribution of $20,000 from Albertsons and a cash donation from Wells Fargo also totaling $20,000. Western States added a $15,000 dollar match, contributing $1 for every 5 lbs. of food collected, with an additional $5,000 donated by Caterpillar. All donations went to participating food bank partners involved with Dump Hunger.

"While we measure our efforts in terms of pounds collected and dump trucks filled, it is hard to measure the full impact of Dump Hunger,” added Harris. “We know from years past that donations continue to come in after the campaign concludes and the food donated will help our local food banks for months to come. More importantly, we hope that the awareness we raise about this challenging time of year helps keep food bank pantries stocked this time each year in the communities where we live and work.”

Dump Hunger is a post-holiday food drive sponsored by Western States Equipment. The five-week campaign partners the 13 Western States branch locations with local Albertsons stores and food banks that serve their shared communities. For more information, including Dump Hunger campaign pictures, Western States branch locations, and a weekly Dump Hunger tracker, visit www.westernstatescat.com.

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