July 19, 2008

Vanguard Collects 142 Tons of Food in the Most Successful Food Drive in 12 Years

Source: Daily Local Times

By Lisa Broudt

As part of this year's All Cans on Deck food drive, Vanguard employees donated 577,000 items to local charities, making it the most successful in its 12-year history.

Crew members, or employees, loaded the nearly 142 tons of goods onto trucks for distribution Tuesday.

"We averaged about 72 cans per crew member," said Kathy Gubanich, managing director of human resources. "We were really proud of their commitment — the demand at the local communities is really critical, and we think giving back to the communities is very important."

Employees from Vanguard's three locations, Valley Forge, Charlotte, N.C., and Scottsdale, Ariz., in total donated 888,945 food and personal care items. Since its inauguration in 1997, employees have collected a total of 3.2 million items in the drives.

Gubanich attributed the drive's success to the personal dedication of the employees.

"The drive is conducted over two weeks and they compete building to building, department per department, and the results have been tremendous."

Gubanich said giving back has become part of the Vanguard culture.

"Our crew members have pledged millions over the last few years, but it's not just

money, we donate hours. We donate cans, gifts, clothing. We try to find the needs of the community and help to address those."

The All Cans on Deck program benefits food banks and hot-meal programs, including Philabundance, Chester County Cares, Cluster Outreach, the Salvation Army of Upper Darby and Community Action Development Commission of Montgomery County.

Gubanich said programs such as All Cans on Deck are particularly important at this moment because of the need for aid in the area. According to Philabundance, rising food and fuel prices have increased demand at Philadelphia food banks by 58 percent.

Donations may prove particularly critical for children who do not receive school-based food programs during the summer.

Chester County's largest employer, Vanguard is headquartered in Tredyffrin and has more than 9,000 employees in the Delaware Valley.