CHANHASSEN, Minn. – A group of 15 employees from Bongards spent several hours assembling and packing food boxes Sept. 20 for the nonprofit organization, Feed My Starving Children.
FMSC donates meals to schools, orphanages, clinics and other programs across 70 countries. The Bongards team of volunteers was organized by their corporate employee engagement committee.
The volunteers worked at a FMSC site in Chanhassen, which is also where Bongards’ corporate offices are located.
The group assembled nutritionally-fortified rice meals designed to travel well and to meet the needs of children around the world who are severely malnourished.
When groups volunteer at a FMSC location, they can pack many meals at once to make a dent in the large task of helping end hunger. The meals go to a network of missions and humanitarian organizations who work hard to get the food to those who need it most
Katie Simons, credit and sales analyst for Bongards, served with the volunteer team.
“Feed My Starving Children was a great event for Bongards,” Simons said. “We like to give back to the community and help those less fortunate. We can’t thank them enough for allowing us to help package.”
The volunteer event was part of a team-building exercise for Bongards employees that allowed them to give back. Another Bongards team had done this three years ago, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed a return. Employees were glad for the chance to do help again this fall.
FMSC staff makes the environment fun for groups who volunteer, Simons said.
“The employees and volunteers were very welcoming and helpful,” Simons said. “They also had great music.”
Bongards has been a market for Minnesota dairy farmers for over a century. The name comes from the small, unincorporated Carver County town of Bongards in which the first creamery site was built in 1908. The business now has three production facilities and several retail locations. Its products are available in grocery stores across the globe.
Simons said Bongards is hoping to do a similar event next spring at FMSC or another humanitarian organization.
“The team was very animated and felt very good about what we did,” Simons said. “Many said that they would do this again.”
The company is also planning a food drive for a local food shelf in autumn 2023. The camaraderie shared at such volunteer events helps both the nonprofits and Bongards employees.
“We enjoyed working as a team and knowing that we were helping out people in other parts of the world,” Simons said.
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