American Canning has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Central Texas Food Bank since 2020. While food scarcity has always been a huge problem in our region, the pandemic shined a light on just how fragile our food systems are. Our business was fortunate enough to see growth in 2020 with our industry shifting towards almost 100% packaging, and it was extremely important to us that we reinvest what we could in our local ecosystem as a result. Central Texas Food Bank is our neighbor and has a proven record of feeding thousands of Texans each day. During a time when access to food was strained,we felt they were an ideal partner with whom we could have a positive impact inour direct community. We set up monetary donation drives in 2020 and 2021 because it was the most ideal way to channel our efforts when in-person volunteering was not a safe option.

While the donation drives were successful, our world began to reopen in 2022 and the feedback we received from our team expressed a desire to shift from monetary donations to donate our time. The American Canning culture is collaborative and hands-on, and while we know money goes a long way, we love an opportunity to act – why not do both? This year, we were able to venture out of our building and day-to-day tasks to volunteer in the Central Texas Food Bank warehouse, sorting and preparing food donations. Over 50 of us were able to participate – the largest group they’ve hosted since reopening in-person shifts. In three hours of volunteering we were able to package 15,100 pounds of food, amounting to 12,583 meals for families across central Texas.

In congruence with the impact of the physical donations, the experience was incredibly impactful for our team. We work together every day of the week and it’s the first time we’ve had the opportunity to do something like this. Collectively, we agreed working together in a new environment was energizing, fulfilling, and a lot of fun – so this certainly won’t be the last time. It truly is a testament to the team at Central Texas Food Bank’s mission, organization, outreach, and collaborative spirit to bring people together in community, and we were grateful to be able to contribute our resources to such a worthwhile cause.

‍