ZIWI Continues Commitment to Community with Harvesters Kansas City Food Bank Partnership

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Press release: ZIWI

As part of its ongoing dedication to supporting local communities, ZIWI USA Inc., a leading provider of premium New Zealand pet food, is proud to continue providing support alongside Harvesters, The Community Food Network, to help fight hunger in the Kansas City area. Harvesters is a regional food bank serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. The organization works with a network of more than 760 nonprofit agencies to provide food assistance to individuals and families in need. Each month nearly a quarter of a million people are provided meals by Harvesters, and of those, 35 percent are children.

The ZIWI USA team of 20 volunteered at the food bank this past week, helping assemble 1128 BackSnack kits. “Harvesters’ after-school, summer and weekend feeding programs for children fill an important gap, relieving the burden and anxiety a family may face when they aren’t sure where their next meal may come from. And they help children focus on their education, not hungry stomachs. The BackSnack program provides a weekly backpack filled with nutritious, child-friendly food for schoolchildren at elementary and some middle schools to take home over the weekend.

BackSnack is a partnership between Harvesters, a participating school and a local community partner — usually a corporate, civic or religious organization. Harvesters provides the food and the backpacks. The local community partners help facilitate picking up the BackSnack food kits from Harvesters and distributing them to the schools. School principals and/or counselors determine which children receive BackSnacks at each school.

“Our entire team is always eager to get to Harvesters each year and put in work to help fight food insecurity in Kansas City.” said Jessica Krueger, senior marketing manager of ZIWI USA Inc. “Each year we find joy in moving as quickly as possible and setting lofty goals for our shift, trying to pack as many kits as possible. We were proud to exceed our 1,000 kit goal this past week! At ZIWI, we believe in being Kaitiaki [guardians of the land, sea and its creatures], which goes hand in hand with supporting those in need. This partnership allows us to do just that. We are committed to making a difference and are proud to support Harvesters in their important work.”