Post Consumer Brands employees from across 13 U.S. and Canadian locations came together as part of the company’s annual “Ingredients for Good” initiative to provide nearly 58,000 meals for local families facing food insecurity during National Volunteer Month in April. This year’s effort focused on ensuring underrepresented communities of color have access to culturally familiar foods and flavors that don’t usually make it to food shelves.

“Our ‘Ingredients for Good’ volunteer initiative aligns with our purpose, which is to make lives better by making delicious food accessible to all,” said Nicolas Catoggio, president and chief executive officer of Post Consumer Brands. “I’m proud of our employees’ efforts to give back to our local communities and help our neighbors in need both during our ‘Ingredients for Good’ month of service initiative in April and throughout the year.”

In the current economic environment, food insecurity remains a major issue in the U.S. and Canada, especially for communities of color, children and seniors, who are affected at a much higher rate. For many communities of color that rely on food shelves, it’s often difficult to find familiar foods they are accustomed to cooking and eating. 

During April, more than 960 Post Consumer Brands employees volunteered more than 1,300 hours to service projects to address food insecurity and foster a more inclusive and equitable culture in the communities where they live and work. In addition to the hands-on volunteer support, the company invested $220,000 in its local communities to help increase access to culturally familiar foods. The service projects benefited 20 different local nonprofits and ranged from packing nearly 10,000 culturally relevant meal kits primarily for communities of color to assembling backpacks with food for local elementary students to eat over the weekend when they face higher levels of food insecurity to preparing and serving meals at local food kitchens. 

The 13 locations taking part in this year’s Ingredients for Good initiative were Asheboro, North Carolina; Battle Creek, Michigan; Bentonville, Arkansas; Cobourg, Ontario; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Lakeville, Minnesota; Lancaster, Ohio; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Northfield, Minn.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Sparks, Nevada; Toronto; and Tremonton, Utah. Remote employees from across North America also volunteered their time during the month to support local nonprofits in the communities where they live and work.