Annual Food Drive Helps Families Across Ohio During The Holidays
New Philadelphia, Ohio – The employees of Rea & Associates, a regional accounting and business consulting firm, continue to champion the firm’s commitment of making a difference in their local communities, particularly during the holiday season. The 15th annual Help Can Hunger food drive, which is organized by employees throughout the firm’s Ohio offices, resulted in the total collection of 42,474 pounds of food. Donations went on to benefit local nonprofits and food pantries across the state to help individuals and families in need throughout the holiday season – 5,949 more pounds of food than last year.
“Every year, the Rea team comes together to give a little more and make a greater difference in the lives of our neighbors. This year was no exception,” said Rea’s CEO Don McIntosh, CPA. “Once again, the Help Can Hunger food drive exceeded everybody’s expectations. I am proud to be the one to report that the Rea team was able to collect nearly 6,000 more pounds of food than last year.”
Over the course of the food drive’s 15-year history, more than 333,500 pounds of food have been collected and donated to local not-for-profit organizations throughout Ohio. Those organizations go on to disperse the resources to individuals and families in need of assistance.
Winners of the friendly competition are determined based on which office donated the most pounds of food per person. The three offices that collected the most donations went on to secure an additional donation from The Rea Foundation, which is then given to the food pantry of the winner’s choice. This year, the firm’s Cambridge office came in first place and won an additional $500 donation for collecting 451 pounds of food per employee, after collecting 339 pounds of food per employee, Rea’s Zanesville office came in second and won an additional $300 donation, and Rea’s Dublin office came in third with a collection of 231 pounds of food per person. Their efforts won the nonprofit of their choice an additional $200 donation.
The Help Can Hunger campaign takes the form of a friendly competition among Rea’s 12 offices. Employees are encouraged to donate food, money and time to the cause. Every dollar raised counts as two pounds of food. This year, the following organizations benefited from the firm’s effort: Guernsey County Senior Citizens Center (Cambridge, Ohio); Christ’s Table (Zanesville, Ohio); Dublin Food Pantry (Dublin, Ohio); BackPack Program (Millersburg, Ohio); Christian Corner Community Center (Lima, Ohio); West Ohio Food Bank (Lima, Ohio); The Gospel Mission Food Pantry (Marietta, Ohio); People to People of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio); Greater Dover New Philadelphia Food Pantry (Dover, Ohio); Feeding Medina County (Medina, Ohio); Share-A-Christmas (New Philadelphia, Ohio); Saint Vincent Depaul Society Food Bank (Mentor, Ohio); The Salvation Army Food Pantry (Cleveland, Ohio); and Grace’s Community Kitchen (Avon, Ohio).