Karen Potter
Executive Director
A Whole Community, Inc.
PO Box 1978
Wooster, OH 44691
A Whole Community, Inc. Phone: 330-749-3715
Email: Karen948@gmail.com
Jennifer Hudson
Director of Marketing
Buehler’s Fresh Foods
1401 Old Mansfield Road
Wooster, OH 44691
Phone: 330-804-1263
Email: jhudson2@buehlers.com
NEWS RELEASE
Buehler’s Fresh Foods hosts “Drive-Thru Soup Fundraiser” to benefit A Whole Community, Inc.
Thursday, September 29, 2022 from 3:30-6:30 PM in the Buehler’s Milltown store parking lot
Wooster, OH – September 20, 2022 – Buehler’s “Drive-Thru Soup Fundraiser” on Thursday, September 29, 2022 from 3:30-6:30 PM will offer a Soup Dinner (16 oz. soup, 2 dinner rolls, and 1 cider & spice cake donut) for $12.00. Optional pottery bowls donated by Jack Rogers will also be available for an additional $12.00. The proceeds from the event will assist A Whole Community, Inc. (AWC) with its Community Food Project. AWC gathers fresh produce from local farms and delivers to local food pantries, free meal sites, and low-income neighborhoods. This is AWC’s sixth year in providing low-income individuals with access to nutritious, farm-fresh produce, which improves food security and their overall health.
A Whole Community, Inc. (AWC) is a 501(c)(3) public non-profit organization that helps individuals, families, and communities transition to wholeness. This is AWC’s sixth year operating a Community Food Project, which has four goals: 1) Reduce food waste, 2) Increase farm-fresh produce offered to needy individuals at food pantries, community meal sites, and low-income neighborhoods, 3) Increase nutrition, and 4) Assist local farmers with sustainability.
Over the past five years, AWC has provided 367,225 pounds of farm-fresh produce to those in need through food pantries, meal sites, senior communities, recovery housing, and low-income neighborhoods.
In 2021, there were 44 farms that provided 2,438 boxes of fresh, local produce, that weighed 52,266 pounds. AWC began offering farmers a choice to donate their produce for a tax-deductible receipt or to have AWC pay a portion of the produce cost to assist with farmer sustainability. AWC coordinated 33 community volunteers and summer youth workers who sort, organize, track and deliver the fresh produce. This produce was provided to 44 food pantries, meal sites, senior communities, recovery housing, and low-income neighborhoods, serving over 4,000 individuals monthly for four months (Mid-June – Mid-October). AWC also provided recipes and nutrition education to encourage healthy ways to prepare the fresh produce.
For more information or to give online to A Whole Community, Inc., visit www.AWCinc.org or like A Whole Community, Inc. on Facebook.
“I am very excited about the 2022 Empty Bowls Drive Thru Soup Fundraiser. I am grateful to Buehlers Fresh Foods for once again hosting the event and providing the food. I am also thankful for Jack Rogers for continuing to donate pottery bowls that are available for purchase at the event. All proceeds will go to support A Whole Community, Inc. as we deliver farm-fresh produce to those in need. We look forward to community members coming to this event, where they can stay in their car and drive through to purchase a delicious Buehler’s soup dinner and optional pottery bowl, while ultimately helping to feed others.” shared Karen Potter, Executive Director for A Whole Community, Inc. For more information, visit AWC’s website: www.AWCinc.org
Jennifer Hudson, Marketing Director at Buehler’s said, “as a local, employee owned grocery store, we are committed to addressing the hunger needs in our local communities. We are able to fulfill that mission while doing what we’re best at, by partnering with A Whole Community, Inc. and providing fresh, homemade food for the drive thru soup fundraiser.”
The event flyer is attached.
About Buehler’s
Buehler’s Fresh Foods grocery store was founded in 1929 by E.L. Buehler and his wife, Helen. The family moved the business in 1932 to Wooster, and, after four generations, grew to 14 stores serving the northeast Ohio market. In 2017, Buehler’s became an ESOP (employee stock ownership program) with the belief that selling to their own employees was the best way to assure the continuation of the innovative and creative spirit which made the chain a benchmark for independent grocers.
Buehler’s Fresh Foods operates fourteen Buehler’s Fresh Foods supermarkets located in Wooster (2), Orrville, Wadsworth, Medina (2), Ashland, New Philadelphia, Dover, Jackson Township (Canton), Coshocton, Portage Lakes (Green), Galion and Massillon, Ohio.
Buehler’s Fresh Foods is committed to environmentally responsible behavior, local sourcing of product and supporting the communities in which we operate. For more information visit www.buehlers.com.