KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Early this afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs, in collaboration with Hy-Vee, kicked off the 12th annual Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive benefiting Harvesters Community Food Network.
Chiefs players WR Rashee Rice and FB Ben VanSumeren worked alongside Kansas City Ambassadors Billy Baber, Bill Maas, Trent Bryant, Dave Lindstrom, and Tim Barnett, Chiefs Cheerleaders, KC Wolf, Chiefs Kingdom Creators, and representatives from Harvesters and Hy-Vee. The group packed Hy-Vee holiday food boxes that will be distributed to Kansas City families at a distribution event on Friday, Nov. 13, at Unity Southeast Church.
"This has been an exciting time for us each year as our team works alongside Hy-Vee and Harvesters to benefit those facing food insecurity across our region," Dan Crumb, Chiefs CFO and Harvesters board member, said. "Ensuring people and families across Chiefs Kingdom have access to nutritious food, especially during the holidays, has been an important mission for us, even before the launch of the Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive in 2015. We look forward to working alongside our partners to once again provide for our community in need, and we encourage fans to donate what they can to Harvesters this holiday season."
This year, beginning today and lasting through Nov. 30, the Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive will be celebrated through a variety of activations.
The Chiefs Week 11 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Nov. 22, will celebrate Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive. While physical food donations will not be permitted, fans will have the opportunity to donate monetarily through QR codes displayed across tailgate experiences and on the Arrowvision boards during the game. On Thursday, Nov. 12, during the Chiefs 15th annual Style Lounge, guests who bring five or more nonperishable food items to support the Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive and Harvesters will receive raffle tickets that can be redeemed for a chance to win prizes.
Additionally, Hy-Vee stores across the region will have donation bins available for shoppers. During certain days, members of the Chiefs Red Coaters will be on-site at select Hy-Vee locations to assist shoppers with monetary donations.
Since 2015, the Kansas City Chiefs have partnered with Hy-Vee to benefit Harvesters Community Food Network through kickoff and distribution events, in-store donations, and gameday monetary and non-perishable food collection. Last season, the Hunt Family was honored as inaugural members of the Harvesters Million Meals Club for their commitment to hunger relief across the region. Since its inception, the Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive has raised nearly $900,000 and donated nearly 3.2 million meals across Missouri and Kansas.
Since February 1979, Harvesters has provided food and related household items to nonprofit agencies including food pantries, community kitchens, shelters, children's homes, schools, churches, community centers, health clinics, libraries and others. Today, Harvesters works across 27 counties in Missouri and Kansas with a network of more than 900 nonprofit agencies. Harvesters is a certified member of Feeding America, a U.S. based nonprofit food insecurity initiative featuring more than 2,000 food banks across the country feeding more than 46 million people. In 2011, Harvesters was named Feeding America's Food Bank of the Year.
For more information on how to support Harvesters, please visit www.harvesters.org/how-to-help.
