Ruan team members have recently been involved in a number of efforts across the country to provide their community with much-needed food assistance. As a company, we are always looking to be of service in the areas we live and work, a value originally instilled by our founder, John Ruan. We strive to carry on Mr. Ruan’s philanthropic spirit today.
Recently, Ruan team members were part of an effort to restore a food bank and feed the underserved in West Virginia as part of Mike Rowe’s Facebook show Returning the Favor. The episode aired as the season finale in late August. According to the show’s Facebook page, Returning the Favor “… travels the country in search of remarkable people making a difference in their communities. Returning the Favor gives back to those who pay it forward with humor, heart, and surprise.”
The show traveled to Welch, WV, to restore a leaking roof and provide a trailer full of food for the Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Bank. Ruan’s customer Kroger reached out to our team in Salem, VA, for assistance with delivering the trailer of donated food. Ruan driver Eileen Ganley was selected for the task and is featured in the episode of Returning the Favor. The Ruan truck hauled 38,000 pounds of food donated by Kroger to the Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Bank. That food will be used to serve the members of the Welch community. Watch the full episode here!
Also last month, our team in Des Moines, IA, was contacted by the Food Bank of Iowa to donate transportation services for a substantial food donation from Barilla. The donation from Barilla and volunteer transportation services from Ruan were part of a larger effort that brought in more than 13,000 pounds of donated food for the Food Bank of Iowa. All donated food will go directly to Iowans in need.
This summer, Ruan also supported an Iowa organization called Meals from the Heartland (MFTH), which provides packaged meals to malnourished people in Iowa, across the United States and around the world. In July, Ruan hosted our annual MFTH mobile Hunger Fight at the Ruan Center as part of our annual Founder’s Days celebration. With the help of sister company Bankers Trust and MidAmerican Energy, we packaged 40,000 meals. In August, Ruan donated transportation services for MFTH’s Annual Hunger Fight in Des Moines, where central Iowans banded together to package more than 3.6 million meals. Ruan brought many of the raw materials to be packaged. The same week, a group of 10 Ruan team members participated in the Meals from the Heartland Hy-Vee Cup competition. During the competition, four teams raced to fill two boxes of packages meals the fastest. Feeding the community has been an initiative close to Ruan for many years, as highlighted with Mr. Ruan’s sponsorship of the World Food Prize in 1990. Today, with its $250,000 award, the World Food Prize is the foremost international award recognizing excellence and progress in overcoming global food production and distribution challenges while inspiring new generations to embrace the cause. Click here to read about this year’s award laureates and the prize itself.
