Arrow Sponsors Coin Harvest 2006;
Employees Donate Spare Change to Help Reduce Hunger
For the second consecutive year, Arrow is the grand sponsor of Island Harvest's “Coin Harvest,” a unique education and fundraising program for school children aimed at raising their awareness about hunger on Long Island and what they and their families can do to help. Island Harvest is a non-profit organization that collects unwanted food from restaurants and supermarkets and distributes it to families and individuals in need through more than 430 community-based soup kitchens and food banks on Long Island.
Through assembly presentations and classroom activities, children learn about proper nutrition and hunger in the community, and how a small contribution of just 22 cents can rescue a pound of food for a soup kitchen. Schools that participate in the program designate a two-week collection period during which the children talk with their family and friends about the problem of hunger and collect spare change for the cause. Many students organize special fundraising events, such as basketball games or car washes, from which proceeds are directed to the school's final Coin Harvest contribution.
The funds raised by students in participating schools are used to support Island Harvest's food collection and distribution programs, which serve thousands of hungry people on Long Island each year. Arrow's $20,000 sponsorship of the program enabled Island Harvest to run the campaign in more than 75 Long Island schools, most of which are in communities where Arrow families live. The program began in February and runs until May. In 2005, this program raised more than $80,000 in support of Island Harvest's food rescue operation
In addition to Arrow's $20,000 sponsorship of the program, employees on Long Island participated in their own Coin Harvest. During a two-week period in March, employees donated nearly $1,000 in the change they received after buying lunch and snacks in the cafeteria.
“Island Harvest provides an important service to individuals and families in need on Long Island and we are proud to support their efforts to bring an end to this problem,” said Marianne Carlton, director, Internal Communications and Charitable Giving, Arrow, in Melville, N.Y. “We're equally as proud to have our employees contribute so generously to this very worthy and important cause.”