Cornwall Ontario – Kraft Heinz Canada and its Ingleside employees donated 215 jars of peanut butter to the Agapè Centre.

Every year, the food production company’s local site undertakes four events, like the peanut butter challenge to help out the needy.

“It could be volunteering in a food bank, which a team did earlier this year at the Agapè Center, or challenges that provide an opportunity for each employee to participate,” said Jackie Poulin, HR Manager at the Kraft Heinz Ingleside location.

Since it’s the most requested item at the local food bank and synonymous with the Kraft Heinz brand, peanut butter was the perfect fit for this food drive.

“We are so full of gratitude for this donation,” said Johanne Gauthier, Operations Manager at the Agapè Centre. “This is a huge boost. It’s a food item we don’t often receive in large quantities because it’s so expensive.”

The added bonus: any employee, temporary services employee or contractor could purchase the product in the company store, and the Ingleside site matched their purchases.

“We had excellent participation in this peanut butter challenge,” said Poulin.

36 cases – or 430 jars – were collected in total, which was divided equally between the Agapè Center in Cornwall and the South Dundas Food Bank.

“The jars went straight from the truck anad onto our shelves, where we know it won’t stay long” said Gauthier.

The crew at Kraft isn’t wasting any time on their next philanthropic project.

“Our next challenge is being organized and will be announced mid-October,” said Poulin.

The Agapè Centre reported a 26% increase in the number of households who used the food bank this past year. In a given month, 466 families need a little extra help to make sure they had good food. The centre’s food bank gives away $15,000 worth of food every month.