Project: Re-Leaf helps raise $17,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief
Project: Re-Leaf helps raise $17,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief
TORONTO -- In a little under four hours, a fund drive held Sept. 23 at the Ontario Food Terminal, here, raised over $17,000 in Canadian funds for Hurricane Katrina relief.
Project: Re-Leaf was designed to show the Canadian produce industry's support for those suffering in the wake of massive Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in late August.
Spearheaded by Cory Clack-Streef, president of Faye Clack Communications Inc., a group of 15 volunteers wearing white Project: Re-Leaf T-shirts accompanied by Freggie, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's mascot, fanned out through the Ontario Food Terminal seeking donations. The outpouring of support they received ranging from the owners of several of the firms at the terminal to truck drivers there to pick up orders was overwhelming.
"It is amazing to see the kindness and support everyone here has shown," Ms. Clack-Streef said. Something like this hits everyone hard, especially with fuel prices, but everyone has been so generous. It is really amazing.
Ms. Clack-Streef said that Ontarios produce industry has already undertaken some relief initiatives for the Gulf Coast, including sending trucks with fresh produce, but to her knowledge, this was the first donation fund drive initiative organized by the industry.
Major retailers have done their own initiatives and the CPMA has donated $10,000 to the Red Cross on their own, as well, Ms. Clack-Streef said.
Project: Re-Leaf was first announced at the Ontario Produce Marketing Associations annual golf tournament on Sept. 14. To help bolster donations for the initiative, the OPMA reached out to its 115 members, while Faye Clack Communications, a public relations firm specializing in the food industry, contacted the 300 produce businesses across Canada in its database, Ms. Clack-Streef told The Produce News.
Employees at Faye Clack Communications first discussed doing something for those affected by Hurricane Katrina just after the hurricane hit and the extent of the damage became apparent.
We mulled over different ideas and thought, 'What can we do as an industry? said Danielle Parney, an account manager at Faye Clack Communications. We wanted this to be an industry initiative, not just about Faye Clack. [Growers] know how devastating weather can be because they make their livings at the mercy of the weather.
Alhough she is over 1,100 miles from the Gilf Coast, Ms. Clack-Streef said that she was always on top of Hurricane Katrinas effects because she has several clients in the southern United States, including the Southern United States Trade Association, which maintains its primary offices in New Orleans.
To see it happen amazes you, especially when you personally know people who are affected by the damage, Ms. Clack-Streef said.
Faye Clack Communications will continue to collect donations through Oct. 7. To donate to Project: Re-Leaf, contact Sabena Khan at 905/206-0577 or [email protected].
Project: Re-Leaf was designed to show the Canadian produce industry's support for those suffering in the wake of massive Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in late August.
Spearheaded by Cory Clack-Streef, president of Faye Clack Communications Inc., a group of 15 volunteers wearing white Project: Re-Leaf T-shirts accompanied by Freggie, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's mascot, fanned out through the Ontario Food Terminal seeking donations. The outpouring of support they received ranging from the owners of several of the firms at the terminal to truck drivers there to pick up orders was overwhelming.
"It is amazing to see the kindness and support everyone here has shown," Ms. Clack-Streef said. Something like this hits everyone hard, especially with fuel prices, but everyone has been so generous. It is really amazing.
Ms. Clack-Streef said that Ontarios produce industry has already undertaken some relief initiatives for the Gulf Coast, including sending trucks with fresh produce, but to her knowledge, this was the first donation fund drive initiative organized by the industry.
Major retailers have done their own initiatives and the CPMA has donated $10,000 to the Red Cross on their own, as well, Ms. Clack-Streef said.
Project: Re-Leaf was first announced at the Ontario Produce Marketing Associations annual golf tournament on Sept. 14. To help bolster donations for the initiative, the OPMA reached out to its 115 members, while Faye Clack Communications, a public relations firm specializing in the food industry, contacted the 300 produce businesses across Canada in its database, Ms. Clack-Streef told The Produce News.
Employees at Faye Clack Communications first discussed doing something for those affected by Hurricane Katrina just after the hurricane hit and the extent of the damage became apparent.
We mulled over different ideas and thought, 'What can we do as an industry? said Danielle Parney, an account manager at Faye Clack Communications. We wanted this to be an industry initiative, not just about Faye Clack. [Growers] know how devastating weather can be because they make their livings at the mercy of the weather.
Alhough she is over 1,100 miles from the Gilf Coast, Ms. Clack-Streef said that she was always on top of Hurricane Katrinas effects because she has several clients in the southern United States, including the Southern United States Trade Association, which maintains its primary offices in New Orleans.
To see it happen amazes you, especially when you personally know people who are affected by the damage, Ms. Clack-Streef said.
Faye Clack Communications will continue to collect donations through Oct. 7. To donate to Project: Re-Leaf, contact Sabena Khan at 905/206-0577 or [email protected].
