In The
News
Wise Foods Partners With Employees, Communities on Hurricane Relief
- Wise Facilitates Local Aid Efforts by Providing Transportation, Logistics -
KENNESAW, GA, BERWICK, PA and BRISTOL, TN—September 20, 2005— Wise Foods Inc., a leading regional producer of salty snacks, said today that it is providing relief to regions of Louisiana and neighboring states affected by Hurricane Katrina through the donation of its own products and by providing transportation and logistics for aid in communities where it has a presence. Thus far, Wise has supplied over 650,000 servings of its products to donation sites administered by the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
In a joint effort with employees of the Wise Foods Berwick, PA facility, the Berwick Fire Department and local residents, Wise made its Berwick plant a central drop-off point for community aid donations, including bottled water, sheets, pillow cases, blankets and snacks. On September 13, a semi-trailer delivered 34 skids of Berwick donations to Louisiana Disaster Relief, located in New Iberia, LA. This relief supplemented a September 11 shipment of over 1200 cases of Wise snack foods to the “Spirit of America” Red Cross relief location in Mandeville, LA.
Wise made its first delivery to the region on September 7 with delivery of a semi-trailer truck filled with snack products to the “Spirit of America” relief location. The first truck was followed quickly by a second on September 9, which delivered cases of snack products to a Salvation Army shelter near Atlanta, GA.
“This is one of the worst catastrophes to hit America in modern times, and it has left every American asking how they can help,” said Tom Shull, Chief Executive Officer of Wise Foods. “For us, the initial answer to that question was to give what we have–large shipments of our snack products. We realized, however, that with some creativity and partnership, we could do more. As civic leaders, we could also work with our employees and local communities to facilitate aid. For example, we positioned an empty semi-trailer underneath the water tower at our Berwick, PA Wise plant as a central location for community donations. Through posters throughout the facility, and with the help of local radio and television stations, we invited local residents to bring their donations to our central location. On September 13, we sent the full truck to Louisiana Disaster Relief, located in New Iberia, LA, working with our transport partner Northeast Express, Inc. We will continue relief efforts such as these and thank our employees, families and their communities for their generosity.”
Founded in 1921, Wise Foods, Inc., is a regional producer of potato chips and salty snacks with products sold in 21 eastern states from Florida to Maine. Wise Foods is a portfolio company of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC, a private equity firm based in New York City.
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Contacts:
David Lilly / Jeffrey Taufield
Kekst and Company for Wise Foods Inc.
(212) 521-4800