- Over 11,000 pounds of fresh produce – grown by QVC team members for hungry neighbors
- A mobile market that brings seasonal produce, eggs and legumes to underserved communities
- A long-standing alliance that helps lower income families in Chester County, Pa., improve their nutrition
These are just a few of the reasons that Philadelphia Business Journal has selected QVC and the Chester County Food Bank as winners of the Journal’s 2017 Faces of Philanthropy awards program. This is the second year running that the two have been honored by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The Faces of Philanthropy honors for-profit and nonprofit companies that join forces to make a difference in the greater Philadelphia area through monetary donations, social impact and community involvement. This year’s corporate honorees also included Campbell Soup Company, IBM, Comcast, AmerisourceBergen and other local companies.
According to the Chester County Food Bank, one in every fourteen families goes hungry every day in the county, and the need is growing at a staggering rate. QVC has a long-standing partnership with the Chester County Food Bank to help combat this issue through such hunger-fighting initiatives as QVC’s on-site community QGarden, launched in 2013. The relationship continued to grow in 2016, as QVC became the premier sponsor of the food bank’s Fresh2You mobile produce market.
The mission of Fresh2You is to bring fresh produce, healthy food staples and nutrition education directly to underserved communities in Chester County. The Fresh2You truck travels throughout the county, connecting low-income community members to fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the region by local farmers and producers.
QVC’s QGarden gives QVC team members the opportunity to exercise their green thumbs and help provide local food pantries with fresh, organic produce (instead of staging traditional canned food drives). To date, QVC has harvested 11,221 pounds of produce, 70% of which was donated directly to local food pantries. The remaining 30% was offered to volunteers – many of whom decided to pay it forward by donating the items to a shelter or to someone they know in need.