Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!

Why so enthusiastic? Just last week, we finished collecting information on charitable donations made as part of our second-ever Whole Grains Giveaway program, and the total amount of whole grain food topped one million servings!! How could we not feel some excitement!?

The Giveaway was a truly international effort to ensure that Americans in need have access to healthier whole grain options, and generous Members of the WGC banded together to donate this staggering amount of whole grain food to schools, food pantries, homeless shelters, and other charities across the country. It represents the collected charitable efforts of various food companies who made donations of whole grain products in January, February, and March of this year.

All too often healthy food is seen as an elite privilege for the well-to-do, but we at Oldways and the Whole Grains Council believe all socio-economic groups should have access to healthy food, including whole grains. By timing the Giveaway’s conclusion to March, which is National Nutrition Month, we hoped it would drive home the message that everyone, at every income level, should have equal opportunity to better their health by making better, healthier food choices.

So how big is over one million servings? When totaled, our participating Member companies donated 37.5 TONS of whole grain options! If you’re looking to understand just how impressive this effort is, 37.5 tons of whole grain food would fill one-and-a-half semi tractor trailers. When all is said and done, our participating Members gave away enough whole grain food to provide the recommended minimum three servings of whole grains a day for 100 people for more than ten full years.

For more information about the Members who contributed and details about each company’s charitable efforts, just click here. Please join us in thanking all of them for sharing!  (Kara)