INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Land O’ Lakes recently delivered 40,000 pounds of donated cheese products to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana in an effort to fight domestic hunger in central Indiana.

“On behalf of Land O’ Lakes, I’m happy to present 20,000 pounds of cheese to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and 10,000 pounds each to both the Lafayette and Terre Haute branch,” said Jeff Troike, corporate board member for Land O’ Lakes and president of Ceres Solution. “It’s time to seize the need to help feed the hungry of the world, and we see no better way to do that than to give back to our local community here in Indiana.”

According to Cindy Hubert, executive director of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, this donation will help provide a great source of protein for needy Hoosier families.

“We estimate that one pound of cheese will provide five meals for a hungry family and that number can be stretched even further because as we know cheese is a very versatile product,” she said, adding that as a food bank Gleaners serves 350 local food pantries across the state with an estimated reach of 200,000 families, annually.

As part of its First Run program, Land O’ Lakes has committed to donating truckloads of fresh product to food banks across the country quarterly to help alleviate hunger nationwide. This donation of Land O’ Lakes product to Gleaners in Indiana marks the company’s 27th donation of its First Run program. The Indianapolis donation is just one of the three First Run donations this quarter totaling 120,000 total pounds of product. Donations were also made to food banks in Omaha, Neb. and Jonesboro, Ark.

According to Ronnie Mohr, who also serves as a corporate board member for Land O’ Lakes, his company recognizes a big need for food donation, but “Land O’ Lakes can’t do it all – this has to be a grassroots effort from America and that is where farmers can really give back.”

As part of the Land O’ Lakes Foundation initiative to fight hunger and support local community programs, Mohr said that the company will make a matching donation to every donation made toward community projects and programs such as food pantries, 4-H, FFA, local hospitals, universities and park and fire departments.

“It’s really a win-win for everyone because it gets individual farmers contributing to their local community with a match in donation from the local cooperative as well as a match from Land O’ Lakes. 

For more information on the Land O’ Lakes Cooperative Match Program, visit www.landolakesinc.com/company/cor

porateresponsibility/foundation/mem

bermatch/programdescription/default.aspx