Budweiser and SeaPak are teaming up to deliver 100,000 servings of food to Cincinnati’s in-need Freestore Foodbank. The first 300 cases of SeaPak Budweiser beer-battered shrimp are expected to arrive Friday, April 17.
“This donation comes at a critical time, as food insecurity related to COVID-19 continues to spike in the communities we serve,” said Trisha Rayner, VP of External Affairs at the Freestore Foodbank, in a release. “We are grateful for both brands’ support as we work to ensure no one in our network goes hungry during this public health crisis.”
Like many foodbanks across the country, the Freestore Foodbank is seeing an increased need during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks and provides food for the Greater Cincinnati area, Northern Kentucky and parts of Indiana — more than 20 counties said Mayor John Cranley in a press briefing on Monday.
“When I spoke to (Freestore Foodbank CEO) Kurt Reiber last week, he said they were on pace to give out what they would normally give out in six months in one month,” Cranley said. “He also told me last week that right now, at that pace, they only have enough food for the next three weeks, which is pretty scary. And part of that is because they normally get food from restaurants that have excess food which, obviously, they’re not open.
“And they get additional food from Kroger, etc., which, because everybody’s buying out everything at Kroger, they don’t have leftovers like they used to have. And so it’s really a desperate situation. And it’s a weird thing to say and a sad thing to say in this country but people are literally at risk of going hungry in a way that they haven’t in our lifetimes.”
Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser’s parent company, will also be redirecting its sports and entertainment investments to help its nonprofit partners respond to COVID-19, including finding available arenas and stadiums to create temporary blood drive centers and using their supply and logistics network to begin bottling and supplying hand sanitizer.
“SeaPak, along with Budweiser, takes great pride in our commitment to feeding families,” said Kristen Beadon, director of marketing at SeaPak, in a release. “Now, more than ever, we stand united in our shared philosophy of doing everything we can to support communities in need and put seafood onto the tables of those who are struggling during these difficult times.”
To learn more about Freestore Foodbank or to make a donation, visit freestorefoodbank.org.
This article appears in Apr 15 – May 5, 2020.
