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Donation of 34,000 Pounds of Food Boosts Food Bank Efforts to Feed CNY Less Fortunate

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Food Bank of Central New York staff received food donations today – which is nothing rare.  But today’s shipment, says Goya Foods spokesperson Natalie Maniscalco,  totaled 34-thousand-500 pounds. 

“That’s about 25,000 meals.  So the products will be distributed in meals for the families to make a complete meal.  They’ll have rice, they’ll have beans, crackers, coconut water, canned vegetables, non-perishable foods.”

This donation is part of a year-long campaign for Goya Foods that the Food Bank is part of.  Maniscalco knows it will help with the struggles in the Syracuse area.

“The poverty ratio is quite high, also a lot of families are working families, yet they can’t afford to have the meals they need.  We’re a very wealthy country, but I think some people don’t’ realize there are a lot of families that aren’t able to provide for their families when it comes to food.”

And, She notes a big portion of the problem affects kids.

“Some children only have a free meal at school, yet when they’re home they’re not able to eat.  So we’re very in-tuned with what is going on with the epidemic of hunger in the United States and it’s definitely at the forefront of what we do in terms of our charitable giving.”

Goya worked with Price Chopper on the campaign to gather foods.  More on the “Can Do” program is at Goya-dot-com.  Food Bank of Central New York works with agencies in 11 counties to help individuals and families in need. 

Goya Foods Explanation of 'Can Do' Program

The ‘Can Do’ campaign is a yearlong series of consumer product promotions that was launched in June 2017 and ends June 2018. Each month throughout the course of the year, Goya has featured a different product that consumers can purchase to participate in the overall donation. For every GOYA® product purchased during the designated month, Goya will donate additional products to Feeding America.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.