Got milk? For local food pantries in Iowa, not always.
The Food Bank of Siouxland in received over 49,000 shelf-stable chocolate milk cartons from Kemps for distribution at on October 25 at the Food Bank of Siouxland.
While milk is one of the most requested items at food pantries, many struggle to keep milk in stock due to lack of cold storage, which is why dairy brand Kemps is on mission to get milk to families in need.
Earlier this year, Kemps announced that it would donate more than 800,000 specially designed, shelf-stable Giving Cow milk cartons to Midwestern food banks in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Today, in partnership with local retailer Hy-Vee, Kemps is delivering 49,152 Giving Cow chocolate milk packs to Food Bank of Siouxland for distribution across their 11-county service area in northwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska, including Sioux City. The total donation is valued at about $24,500.
Helping Fill a Critical Need
Hunger and food insecurity exist in every community across the United States. Locally, more than 238,000 people in Iowa are facing food insecurity every day, including nearly 69,000 children.
Giving Cow milk cartons offer a highly portable and shelf-stable solution that doesn’t require refrigeration. Each single-serve, 8-ounce carton is ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurized, so it will last up to 12 months. Typically, fresh milk has a shelf-life of about 20 days from processing.
“Kemps is committed to helping support those communities where we live and work,” says Rachel Kyllo, a spokesperson for the brand. “When we learned that people served by food pantries often receive less than one gallon of milk a year because many food pantries don’t have the refrigeration needed, we knew that we had to help and get milk to those families in need. We’re proud that our Giving Cow milks offer that solution.”
Milk Matters for Kids and Families
Milk is a nutrient-rich beverage and one of the easiest ways for kids to get the nutrition they need. One eight-ounce glass provides nine essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium and vitamin D, which are often lacking in children’s diets.
“Milk is greatly desired by the people that we serve,” says Jacob Wanderscheid, Executive Director of the Food Bank of Siouxland. “Shelf-stable milk donations like the Giving Cow provide our families with valuable nutrition.”
Since 2019, Kemps has donated more than 3.5 million Giving Cow milk cartons to food banks throughout the Midwest — helping food pantries and after-school meal programs provide much-needed milk to the families that they serve. For more information about The Giving Cow program and to keep up with how Kemps is making a difference, go to kemps.com/the-giving-cow-project/.
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