Apr 9, 2020

Pandemic charity effort of $4M announced by Driscoll’s

More than $4 million in charitable funds globally for health clinics, food banks, fresh berry donations and other community resources were rolled out by Driscoll’s in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funds are being distributed across diverse geographical growing regions, including $2.5 million for the U.S. and Canada, $1 million for Central Mexico and Baja and $500,000 for Europe and Morocco. In addition, $500,000 in fresh berry donations will be delivered to the first responders and hospitals in New York City.

The first $1 million in cash donations were deployed in mid-March to augment health care services in California, one of Driscoll’s largest growing regions, according to a press release from the company. The below California clinics each received a cash donation of $250,000 to prepare and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Watsonville: Salud Para La Gente
• Salinas: Clinica Del Valle de Salinas
• Santa Maria: Community Health Centers
• Oxnard: Clínicas Del Camino Real 

“We believe it’s our responsibility during these challenging times to support communities who are working tirelessly to bring fresh, healthy berries to families,” Driscoll’s CEO and Chairman J. Miles Reiter said in the release. “Agriculture is an impactful kind of business that relies on human and environmental resources. We are responsible for what we do and how we do it, and are moving quickly to deploy donated resources for the largest community impact.”

In an open letter to the community, Reiter outlined the company’s commitment to: protect the health and safety of all their employees and those in their broader enterprise; uphold food safety commitments to deliver fresh, nutritious fruit to consumers; and to assess and respond on how best to support their growing regions around the world.

Beyond the immediate needs of health services in California, food distribution was identified as the next critical community need, according to the release. California’s shelter-in-place orders have left food banks and pantries with few volunteers and thousands of families in need of food delivery to their homes. To continue serving food to these families, $600K in cash donations and $100K in product donations have been released to the following California organizations:

• Watsonville: Second Harvest, Casa de La Cultura, Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, Salvation Army, and Community Bridges
• Santa Maria: Food Bank of Santa Barbara County
• Oxnard: Food Share

Driscoll’s is matching donations up to $200k for its employees and independent growers to further ignite the spirit of giving, according to the release.