We CAN with you!

Thanksgiving is the time of year we often reflect on the people, places and things for which we are most grateful.  It's an opportunity to slow down, for just a moment, and tell our loved ones  that we care, we appreciate them and that we enjoy our lives because of them.

Many of us will have a nice Thanksgiving spread - turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish and pumpkin pie. Amid all the joy, laughter and leftovers, it's easy to take for granted our ability to feed our families during this time of year.  Sadly, in Ohio, 1 in 7 people struggle with hunger. At Pepper, we are working to help end hunger in the cities that we so proudly call home by conducting annual food drives in our Columbus and Cincinnati offices. 

In Columbus, over 100 of our partners are working with us to collect donations for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank for the 13th year in a row.  This food drive, ending December 6, has made significant progress throughout the years.  Because of the generosity of our partners, we have gone from providing 3,600 meals in 2007 to 108,000 meals in 2018. Our 12-year total: 330,000 meals!

Our partners have developed some great ways to get their offices in involved, too!

• One local partner does an internal CANstruction competition, and the food used to develop their sculptures is donated to the food drive.
• Two middle schools are getting in on the action this year.  At one school, for every 5 cans donated students get an extra credit point.  The other middle school is having a contest where the class that brings the most cans gets a pizza party.
• Another partner of ours is giving away a raffle ticket for every can employees donate to the food drive.  The winner will receive tickets to a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game.

In Cincinnati, for the 11th year, our team has partnered with the Lincoln Heights Outreach Inc [LHOI] Food Pantry.  The food drive has grown from 8 cans in 2009 to a whopping 10,000 cans last year!  This year's goal: 15,000 cans!  Ending December 18, the theme for this year's food drive in Cincinnati is "We CAN with you!"  

For our Cincinnati food drive, we work with our partners and collect donations at our job offices.  This year, there are five locations throughout Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky where participants can drop off their donations.

• 
  Pepper Cincinnati Office, 4350 Glendale Milford Road #160, Cincinnati, OH
• AWS Job Trailer, 2505 Ted Bushelman Blvd, Florence, KY
• Highland District Hospital Job Office, 1275 N. High Street, Hillsboro, OH 
• Third Eye Brewery Job Trailer, 11276 Chester Road, Sharonville, OH

Not only are we thankful for the staff that is helping to organize the logistics of these food drives, we are truly humbled by the incredible participation of our partners.  Together, we are helping lead the way to create hunger-free communities in Ohio by connecting our neighbors to healthy meals.  And because of that, we thank you!