BOW — Ford Motor Company Fund and Grappone Ford recently collected 4,495 pounds of peanut butter to support the New Hampshire Food Bank through New Hampshire’s first Ford “Focus on Child Hunger” Peanut Butter Drive.
From June 19 through July 14, the New Hampshire Food Bank and Ford Motor Company Fund encouraged the public and businesses to fill four Ford F-150 pickup trucks with peanut butter at Grappone Ford in Bow. The Peanut Butter Drive was designed to provide a healthy, kid-friendly source of protein to children across the state.
“We are thrilled our first Ford Focus on Child Hunger Peanut Butter Drive was such a tremendous success with the effort generating more than 4,000 pounds of peanut butter to support families in need,” said Eileen Liponis, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire.
“Without the guarantee of free-and-reduced school meals during the summer months, it can be a difficult time of year for many families to ensure their children get the nutrition they need, and peanut butter is a healthy option kids enjoy.”
Ford Fund has been fighting hunger with its national peanut butter drive, collecting more than 180,000 pounds of peanut butter—and counting—since 2014, which equates to more than 2.5 million high-protein, kid-friendly sandwiches. In 2015, Ford Fund committed $2 million over five years to address food insecurity, working with Feeding America food banks in New England.
At the Peanut Butter Drive launch event, Ford Fund and Grappone Ford also announced an additional donation of a new $70,000 refrigerated transit van to the New Hampshire Food Bank to support its efforts to deliver more fresh produce to families in need.
“We can’t thank Team New Hampshire enough for coming together to realize Ford Fund’s mission of strengthening communities and making people’s lives better,” said Marc Rogowski, Ford’s New England regional manager.
“Ford Fund and New England Ford Dealers remain committed to advocating for New Hampshire and New England families who struggle with hunger, while also supporting education needs by funding service scholarships to high school students through the Red Sox Foundation.”
To support the Ford Focus on Child Hunger Peanut Butter Drive, Grappone Ford hosted weekly peanut butter “socials” to raise awareness and to drive donations for the initiative. Grappone Ford also hosted internal competitions for team members collecting the most peanut butter, helped guests unload hundreds of jars of peanut butter, and enlisted the support of other local businesses.
“We really appreciated being able to partner with Ford Motor Company Fund on this initiative—it aligns perfectly with our company’s mission: dedication to building lifelong relationships with our team members, guests and community by serving with integrity, kindness and respect,” said Amanda Grappone Osmer, fourth generation steward of Grappone Automotive Group.
Support from this Peanut Butter Drive is essential as child hunger persists in New Hampshire, where 11 percent of children are food insecure, meaning they do not know where their next meal is coming from. To meet the need, the New Hampshire Food Bank distributed 13.7 million pounds of food to its partners statewide last year and expects to distribute more than 14 million pounds of food this year.
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