DES MOINES, IA—In a joint effort, Siegwerk and Multi Packaging and Printing are working to help a worthwhile cause. Over the past year, Siegwerk has become very involved with a locally headquartered organization called Meals from the Heartland (MFTH) by donating time, resources and money. MFTH is a non profit organization composed of volunteers who package meals for delivery to starving people around the world as well as in the U.S. Last year, MFTH distributed between 15-20 million meals all over the world!
Siegwerk sends a group of employees each month to package meals. The average for a Siegwerk team in a two hour period is to package 6,000-8,000 meals comprised of soy, rice, dried vegetables and a vitamin packet. The team combines all the contents in the bag, weighs it to ensure accuracy, seals it, labels it, and then packages it into a box for shipping.
“Siegwerk is committed to MFTH for packaging meals, as it is a great cause to help others in need. Our partnership with MFTH has been the most rewarding community experience we have ever been involved in,” remarked Dave Hiserodt, president at Siegwerk. “Yes, it is primarily about the meals for the needy, but our employees feel good about giving back and it builds teamwork among our employees in immeasurable ways. We also appreciate the fact that we were able to partner with our co suppliers and make a larger impact by providing our services and in return pass the savings on to them.”
In addition, Siegwerk has coupled with Multi Packaging and Printing in Newton, IA to print the packages which hold the meals. Being family owned businesses with a long time working partnership, both organizations felt that this was a perfect fit to give back to the community. While Siegwerk is donating the ink for this venture, other contributions are being made by other co-suppliers including RR Donnelly, Valley Packaging Supply, Elite Extrusion, Flex Films, etc. Ninety-two cents of every dollar donated to MFTH goes into the food packaging and transportation around the world. Any savings on the packaging costs is just that many more meals that can be packaged.
“Our organization is truly blessed by the relationship we have with Siegwerk. Their heart and passion for our mission to feed the starving in Iowa, the U.S., and around the world never ceases to amaze me,” said Greg Dehaai, director of operations from Meals from the Heartland. “The team at Siegwerk contacted Multi Packaging and Printing with an idea to try and reduce the price of the meal pouches for our Annual Hunger Fight. Through the generosity of these two companies and the other vendors involved, the reduced costs will provide more than 70,000 meals for kids who are going without. It is because of businesses like these that we are making a difference in world hunger.”
The first run of bags printed mid July that will be used MFTH’s Annual Hunger Fight event held Aug. 31 – Sept. 3 in Des Moines, IA. For more information, visit Meals from the Heartland’s website.