On Sunday, the Chiefs Women's Organization, along with volunteers from Farmland and Harvesters, collected non-perishable food items for Harvesters Community Food Network.
"Chiefs fans have a history of being giving and compassionate and they definitely stepped up to help in the food drive on Sunday, providing Harvesters with just over 43,000 meals " Chuck Castellano, Chiefs Community Relations Manager noted.
Harvesters' mission is, "To feed hungry people today and work to end hunger tomorrow." As many as 66,000 people receive emergency food assistance through Harvesters' network in any given week.
The Kansas City Chiefs partner with Harvesters throughout the year on many events to fight against hunger in the community. Throughout the course of this year alone, the Chiefs have volunteered more than 550 hours and donated nearly $100,000 to various hunger relief initiatives.
"With the holidays quickly approaching, Harvesters Food Bank is in need of donations so they can continue to provide food assistance to the community," Castellano explained. "This weekend helped make a huge difference for Harvesters and in turn, our community."
Farmland, a proud Chiefs partner, also made substantial donations to Harvesters. This year Farmland has donated $135,000, 40 cases of protein, which makes 675,160 meals, and 237 employee volunteer hours to Harvesters through its "Bacon A Difference" program.
Last week, Farmland was onsite to make a donation of 40,000 pounds of ham to help feed the community. Plus, Chiefs employees donated non-perishable food items.
Combined with the staff participation and the donations received on Sunday, the food drive provided 43,037 meals to Harvesters.
In addition to the food drive before Sunday's game, the Chiefs dedicated Harvesters as the beneficiary of Sunday's 50/50 raffle, raising an additional $19,271, which will provide 96,355 meals, for local agencies. Together, we provided 139,392 meals to hungry families this holiday season.
"The amount raised is huge for the children, families and seniors coming to our agencies for help with food," Paula Pratt, Community Outreach Director with Harvesters said. "We always knew the Chiefs had the best fans in the country, now we know they're some of the most generous football fans around! Harvesters is grateful to everyone who brought a can or two to the game, participated in the 50/50 raffle or donated to the virtual food drive."
To learn more about Harvesters or to make a donation, click here.
