Cans for Coffee drive provides 56,000 meals
Ozarks Food Harvest received a large truckload of nonperishable food this fall, thanks to the ninth annual McDonald’s Cans for Coffee food drive.
More than sixty area McDonald’s restaurants collected 27,254 pounds of food. The donation makes Cans for Coffee one of Ozarks Food Harvest’s largest food drives.
“We are so thankful for all of our team members and customers for helping McDonald’s of the Ozarks to reach these incredible numbers. We couldn’t do it without their support,” said Andi Hilburn-Vaini, McDonald’s of the Ozarks Co-Op president and local McDonald’s owner-operator.
Combined with a 40,000-pound chicken donation in the name of Cans for Coffee from Tyson Foods, the drive will allow Ozarks Food Harvest to distribute 56,000 meals to its network of member agencies.
Over 25,000 pounds of the food collected through Cans for Coffee will benefit Ozarks Food Harvest’s member pantries, with an additional 2,000 pounds helping food banks and pantries in Arkansas and central Missouri.
“Cans for Coffee brings awareness about the issue of hunger to thousands of McDonald’s customers every year, and makes a big impact for people struggling with hunger in our community. We’re grateful for this partnership that has allowed us to provide hundreds of thousands of meals over the last nine years,” said Denise Gibson, director of development and communication for Ozarks Food Harvest.
From Aug. 29 through Sept. 25, McDonald’s of the Ozarks encouraged customers to donate a canned good in exchange for one free small McCafé beverage of their choice.
Since 2008, community members have provided more than 193,000 meals through Cans for Coffee.