Grimmway Farms Employees Participate in ‘Pack to School’ Giveaway for Local Students

Grimmway Joins Local Business Community to Provide Students with Much-Needed School Supplies in Donation Drive Led by Greater Lamont Chamber of Commerce

BAKERSFIELD, CA, July 24, 2017 – On Saturday, volunteers from Grimmway Farms joined the Lamont business community in distributing hundreds of backpacks and school supplies collected by local businesses as part of the Back to School Supply Drive led by the Greater Lamont Chamber of Commerce. The backpack and supply giveaway, which took place at the Lamont Weedpatch Family Resource Center, allowed students to pick and choose from the donated supplies, creating a “shopping” experience to help connect them with items appropriate for each grade level. Nearly 500 local school children were on-hand for the event.

“At Grimmway Farms, we are committed to giving back to our community and investing in education for our youth,” said Jeff Huckaby, President, Grimmway Farms. “When the Greater Lamont Chamber of Commerce asked for our help with its Back to School Supply Drive, we readily agreed to participate knowing that this cause would strongly connect with our employees.”

The Greater Lamont Chamber of Commerce coordinated the Back to School Supply Drive to ensure area school children have the essential supplies they need for the upcoming school year. In addition to Grimmway Farms, participating local businesses included Dollar Tree, Recology, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Fastrip Gas Stations of Lamont.

“We received everything from crayons to calculators, and a total of 780 backpacks. A few local hairdressers were onsite offering free haircuts to students as well. The Greater Lamont Chamber of Commerce appreciates Grimmway Farms, its employees, and all of the participating businesses for their generous donations,” said Jose Gonzalez, President, Greater Lamont Chamber of Commerce. “Because of their efforts and commitment, the children of Lamont will now be prepared to start the school year with essential school supplies.”

Students were able to select from a variety of fundamental supplies collected over a weeks-long drive for donations, such as notebooks, pens, pencils, paper, binders, highlighters, rulers, and safety scissors. All proceeds benefited students of the Lamont School District, Vineland School District,
Kern High School District, and others. Extra backpacks and supplies will be donated to students in the Arvin community.

Grimmway Farms initiated a friendly competition to spur employee participation among seven of its Lamont/Arvin facilities to see which team could collect the most school supplies. The facility that collected the most donations will be rewarded with a personal ice cream social event hosted by Huckaby. The company, itself, also donated 330 backpacks and 800 carrot snack packs to the program.

Huckaby added, “The level of employee participation in this school supply drive makes me so proud. I’m never surprised by our employees’ commitment to our communities, but I’m always impressed. Once again, our employees demonstrated that, at Grimmway, ‘giving back to the community’ isn’t a slogan, it’s part of our company’s cultural fabric.“