JM Family’s Second Annual “Fall Fill-Up” Collects 34,000 Pounds of Food for 10 Nonprofits throughout North America
Local Donations Benefit Feeding South Florida
JM Family Enterprises, Inc. (JM Family) and its nearly 4,000 associates recently completed the company’s second annual "Fall Fill-Up" food drive, collecting more than 34,000 pounds of food and raising more than $29,500 for 10 nonprofits in North America. This year’s collection surpassed the company’s inaugural Fall Fill-Up in 2009 by more than 7,000 pounds. JM Family held the drive this year to help continue the fight against hunger across the United States and Canada.
"Hunger does not discriminate and there are still so many who go to bed not knowing where their next meal will come from," said Colin Brown, president and CEO of JM Family. "I am proud of our associates for reaching out and contributing so much to help our non-profit partners feed the hungry in our community."
In Broward County, where JM Family is headquartered, 12 percent of the population lives below poverty and unemployment rates are 3 percent above the national average, according to U.S. Census data. Feeding South Florida reports there are more than 920,000 residents in its service area with food insecurities, up from 670,000 last year. To join in the fight against hunger, associates at the company’s Deerfield offices and at JM Lexus collected 11,680 pounds of food for Feeding South Florida, an organization that provides grocery products to more than 175 partner agencies.
Brown announced a special "Soup to Nuts" challenge during the three-week campaign to help make this year’s drive a huge success. Every can of hearty soup or jar of peanut butter donated - two items in high demand by food banks - Brown personally matched. With the match, the "Soup to Nuts" challenge alone generated 8,448 cans of soup and 2,926 jars of peanut butter!
"Our ongoing partnership with JM Family and the passion of its associates has helped us reach even more neighbors struggling to make ends meet in our community," said Judith Gatti, Executive Director of Feeding South Florida. "Their generosity of food donations, financial support and hundreds of volunteer hours are not only substantial, but also inspiring and very much appreciated."
At the culmination of the Fall Fill-Up, the company’s contributions -- along with thousands of pounds from other generous donors in the community -- were sorted by more than 150 associates and family members at Feeding South Florida’s warehouse on Saturday, November 6. During the event, Brown presented Gatti and Susan Hantman, member of the board of directors and past chairperson, with a $10,000 check from JM Family to help the organization continue feeding the hungry. An additional $2,485 from associate donations and a campus-wide Jeans Day was also presented to Feeding South Florida. Gatti and Hantman had a surprise for JM Family as well, unveiling a special appreciation plaque prominently displayed in the food sorting area of its warehouse honoring the company.
Through JM Family’s continued partnerships with local nonprofits in locations where the company has major business operations, the Fall Fill-Up food drive benefited: The Place of Forsyth County (Alpharetta, Ga.); Beverly Bootstraps Community Service (Beverly, Mass.); Jackson County Emergency Food Bank (Commerce, Ga.); Second Harvest of North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.); The Mississauga Food Bank (Mississauga, Ontario); Bay Area Food Bank (Mobile, Ala.); Moisson Montréal (Montreal, Quebec); Word of Righteousness Family Life Center (Solon, Ohio); and St. Louis Area Food Bank (St. Louis, Mo.).
To access photos, click here: http://jmfamily.com/Content/Other/2010/20101106_Fall_Fill_Up.zip
Photo IDs:
JM Family Fall Fill-Up 1:
(L to R) JM Family president & CEO Colin Brown; Susan Hantman, member of Feeding South Florida’s board of directors and past chairperson; Judith Gatti, executive director of Feeding South Florida; Scott Cohen, JM Family director of Corporate Food Services and Feeding South Florida board member.
JM Family Fall Fill-Up 2:
JM Family associates (from L to R) Mary Malval, Robert Colar and Kelly Scarberry.
JM Family Fall Fill-Up 3:
(L to R) JM Family associate Elsy Bauer, Isaiah Humphrey, JM Family associate Leba Humphrey, Carolina Libreros and Clara Lara
JM Family Fall Fill-Up 4:
Colin Brown (left) with JM Family associate Eddie Rivera
JM Family Fall-Fill Up 5:
Nearly 150 JM Family associates, friends and family sorted more than 65,000 pounds of food at Feeding South Florida in November.
Media Contact:
Christie Caliendo
954-363-6285
christie.caliendo@jmfamily.com
About JM Family Enterprises, Inc.
JM Family Enterprises, Inc., founded by Jim Moran in 1968, is a diversified automotive company ranked by Forbes as the 33rd-largest privately held company in the U.S. It is currently ranked No. 28 by FORTUNE® as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, its 12th consecutive year on the list. The company is also No. 3 on Computerworld’s list of “100 Best Places to Work in IT.” Primary subsidiaries and divisions include: Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC, the world’s largest independent distributor of Toyota and Scion vehicles; World Omni Financial Corp., a diversified financial services company; JM&A Group, one of the leading independent providers of finance and insurance (F&I) products in the automotive industry; JM Lexus, the largest volume Lexus dealership in the world; and JM Service Center LLC, the company’s internal shared services center. Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Fla., JM Family has major operations in Jacksonville and Margate, Fla.; Commerce and Alpharetta, Ga.; Mobile, Ala.; and St. Louis, Mo.
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