Giving back is in our DNA. Especially around the holidays.
As part of the organization’s Hendrick Hunger Heroes initiative, teammates in Raleigh, North Carolina, including Reggie Jackson Airport Honda, Hendrick Chevrolet Cary and Porsche Southpoint, came together at Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, which is the largest and oldest food bank in the state who serves 34 counties in the Triangle area, to help pack meals for those facing hunger in their local community.
In our 21st year of extending care to our neighbors in need, our company-wide teammates helped the organization donate $1.5 million towards fighting hunger in 2022 alone. Over the past two years our company has contributed nearly $3 million, making a positive impact for our partner food banks nationwide while helping an estimated 12 million people during that time.
“It’s great to be a part of this,” said Shaye Johnson, general manager of Reggie Jackson Airport Honda. “The thing that Mr. Hendrick always says is that it’s about people – they are our biggest strength. This is who we are and it’s in our DNA to give back. We have been doing events like these for more than 20 years as a company. For everyone to pull together and raise $1.5 million (in 2022) is something that we should all be proud of, then to come to volunteer events like this and see it go back into the community is so important.
“We’re taking care of the people around us and close to us – either through our donations or giving our time. I think it shows how much we are able to contribute. Our volunteers here today are prepping food to go out into the community. We’re make sure everything is processed, sorted and packaged the right way. You want to make sure the product going out is of quality.”
While financial donations through programs such as Hendrick Hunger Heroes go a long way and make a huge difference, it’s the giving of time that’s important.
“Volunteers are vital,” said Jessica Slider-Whichart, vice president of communications and public policy for Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. “We really could not open our doors without them as they basically double our staff. A lot of the food that we have come in comes in bulk quantities – like sweet potatoes that are being sorted today – crackers, cereal, we need volunteers to place that food into those family sized packages to be able to get it out the door. We’re a community food bank who needs the community to help run it. Volunteers make that possible.”
Currently, there’s approximately 500,000 people in the Raleigh area who are food insecure – people who are not knowing or not being able to rely on where their next meal is coming from.
Food from today’s event, in which 23,100 meals were sorted by our teammates, will feed those neighbors this holiday season, providing access of nutritious options for families, children, seniors and individuals.
Serving together is a tradition at the heart of Hendrick Automotive Group culture and we are all united in our efforts to strengthen communities – whether providing holiday meals to families in need or supporting local organizations.
The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (the Food Bank) is a non-profit organization that has provided food for our friends and neighbors facing hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina for more than 40 years. The Food Bank is an affiliate member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic relief charity. In terms of total food distributed the Food Bank ranks in the top-15 nationally among 200 Feeding America food banks and first in North Carolina. For more information, visit https://foodbankcenc.org/.
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