Filling trucks to feed the hungry

ELKHART, IN - At least once a month, a truckload of tomato products leaves Hirzel Canning Co. to help feed people in need.

Normally the trucks are filled with no fanfare and quietly go to families having a hard time putting food on their tables. But the truckloads being driven to Elkhart, Ind., today made the news since they will help the 5,200 families hurt by the failing recreational vehicle industry. They are part of an "Americans Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan," a program from Feed the Children, an international, nonprofit relief organization based in Oklahoma City.

Last week, the truckloads went to Wilmington, to feed 5,000 families affected by the recent closing of the DHL Express location there. That caravan also carried countless cans of Hirzel's Dei Fratelli's tomato products. "This is nothing new to us. We do it quite regularly," said Steve Hirzel, president of Hirzel Canning Co. "We are happy to be a part of providing assistance to these families. As a food manufacturer, it is important that Dei Fratelli lends a hand."

For years, the canning plant has been donating food to the Feed the Children program, which Hirzel said very effectively gets food to people truly in need.

"It's a good way to get people fed," he said. "There are so many people in need."

The company normally doesn't get any publicity for its donations. "It's just not our style," Hirzel said, noting that his father and grandfather also believed in sharing with those in need.

But the emergency caravans are putting the spotlight on donors. Dei Fratelli's donations were added to those of other corporate partners, including StarKist Co., Sunny Delight Beverages and Bimbo Bakeries. The donated items are enough to help supplement a family for up to one week.

Feed The Children is responding to the plight of Americans distressed by layoffs occurring all across the nation by dispatching semi tractor-trailers full of food and personal care items into cities and towns hardest hit by the economic downturn. The Americans Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan is focusing on smaller U.S. cities that have been devastated by job layoffs.

"They are doing so many drops all around the country," Hirzel said. "This situation is a little closer to home," he said of the Elkhart and Wilmington drops. "There are just a lot of people less fortunate. We've got to be able to feed the people around us."

More distributions will occur in cities and towns nationwide. Feed The Children is currently evaluating the hardest hit areas to help as many families in need as possible. Feed The Children is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disasters. In 2007, the program distributed more than 135 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally, supplementing almost 800,000 meals each day.

Anyone interested in helping Feed the Children may contact the organization at:
Feed The Children

P.O. Box 36, Oklahoma City, Okla., 73101-0036
Phone (800) 627-4556

( The Sentinel-Tribune is a media partner of FOX Toledo)