Spreading the Help: Hy-Vee, Hormel donates 1,000 pounds of peanut butter to Salvation Army
Published 6:40 am Wednesday, October 30, 2019
- Members of Austin’s Salvation Army, Hy-Vee and Hormel pose for a picture at the Salvation Army Tuesday morning with the peanut butter. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin Salvation Army’s food shelf just got a little more full on Tuesday morning; one thousand pounds more full, that is.
On Tuesday, representatives from Hy-Vee and Hormel Foods presented a donation of 1,000 pounds of Skippy brand peanut butter to the Salvation Army. The partnership is a part of Hormel’s “Spread the Smiles” campaign, while the donation is part of a hunger program created by the makers of Skippy peanut butter in 2018.
“This donation is huge,” said Maj. Jeffrey Strickler, Salvation Army Corps Officer. “We get a lot of requests from people for peanut butter.”
Earlier this year, Hy-Vee participated in a sales promotion with Skippy and, as a result, was provided more than 11,000 pounds of peanut butter to be distributed to food banks in 11 different communities, including Austin, throughout its eight-state region.
“Hy-Vee is one of our more loyal retailers, so it was a natural match,” said Hormel Foods Corporate Communications Manager Brian Olson. “If you look at some of the other communities where the donation was going to, some of them were in Iowa where they were hard hit by the flooding and storms. There are various reasons why those 11 communities were chosen, but ultimately it was up to Hy-Vee’s discretion.”
Lori Espe of the Salvation Army unloads cases of Skippy Peanut Butter donated through a collaboration with Hy-Vee and Hormel Food, Inc., Tuesday at the Salvation Army. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“With Hy-Vee and Hormel being such close partners in Austin, they wanted to make sure it was well represented here,” said Austin Hy-Vee Store Director Britt Fossum, who can attest to the demand for peanut butter in the Austin community. “I would guess in a typical week, we sell about 300 (jars of Skippy) if you include all of the varieties of it. If it’s a really hot sale, we can sell 1,000 in a day easy.”
On average, the Salvation Army goes through approximately 12,000 pounds of food in one week. They estimate the peanut butter donation will last about two to three months.
“We have tried to move our food shelf to be a super food shelf where we try to give out more protein as well as fresh vegetables and fruit,” Strickler said. “The protein is there in the peanut butter: seven grams per serving, so that’s really great. It means a lot to folks; it’s such a convenient food to use.”
“That’s the great thing about peanut butter,” Olson said. “It’s high in protein, versatile, long shelf life and delicious.”
Cases of Skippy peanut butter are stacked at the Salvation Army after being donated by a collaboration between Hy-Vee and Skippy. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Olson added that the National Peanut Board said one ounce of peanut butter is a serving size for a sandwich. That means the 1,000-pound donation is enough to make 16,300 sandwiches.
“I personally like two ounces on my sandwich,” Olson said.
“We really appreciate Hy-Vee and Hormel and all of the help they give us here feeding the people in Austin,” Strickler said.
For those interested in donating food to the Salvation Army food shelf, donations can be made Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. Strickler said they regularly need high-protein items, fresh produce and non-perishable foods.
“Anything that would make a nice, balanced meal works for us,” he said.
