Promises kept.
Following through on our commitment to help the Gulf Coast rebuild and feed thousands of families.
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Our special Up To Speed featured Michael Ledger, President and CEO of Feeding the Gulf Coast, an organization that is working to reduce hunger in the panhandle of Florida, south Alabama and south Mississippi through a partner network of over 400 agencies in mobile pantries.
Michael described how Feeding the Gulf Coast started working with Verizon in October 2018 after Hurricane Michael decimated the area. “Verizon stepped in with support of communications and financing that allowed us to make a major impact for those folks that really had everything taken from them.”
During a visit in 2019, Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne and Business Group CEO Tami Erwin reinforced Verizon’s commitment to the Gulf Coast’s long-term recovery.
The truck was purchased in 2020. Then the pandemic hit. Demand for the food bank went up 33%. Verizon again stepped up and provided the financing and vehicles to move another two million pounds of food.
It’s been a true team effort involving Network, Sales channels, Operations and support teams including Human Resources, Finance, Marketing and State Government Affairs. Hundreds of V Teamers from all parts of the business and all parts of the country ran to a crisis, both in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane as well as in the months and years since.
Now, the new truck is wrapped and has started making trips along the coast. Each truckload feeds more than 30,000 families.
“One of the things we're really focused on is trying to address rural hunger and making sure that underserved populations are being reached,” said Michael. “Being able to move bigger amounts of food to further distances in more remote areas is a very powerful tool, and this truck allows us to do that. We can't thank Verizon and all of their staff enough. We don't accomplish anything that we do without partners like Verizon.”
If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.
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