Gay Lea Foods makes multi-year, $1.2M commitment to Second Harvest

Who: Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited

What: The dairy farmer-owned cooperative has made a three-year, $1.2 million charitable commitment to food rescue organization Second Harvest.

Gay Lea Foods will provide the equivalent of 3.6 million meals to Canadians facing food insecurity across the country in the next 36 months.

"Gay Lea Foods has a long history of supporting Canadian communities, and we are proud to deepen our commitment through this transformative national partnership with Second Harvest," said Suzanna Dalrymple, president & CEO, Gay Lea Foods, in a press release. "Together, we can help put good food on more plates and reduce the amount of edible food ending up in landfills across our country."

Second Harvest rescues good, surplus food from across the supply chain and redistributes it to a network of more than 5,000 non-profits across the country. 

The partnership between Second Harvest and Gay Lea Foods began in 1997, when the co-operative first began providing surplus product for redistribution as part of Second Harvest's Food Rescue program. 

"This expanded partnership with Gay Lea Foods shows just how much impact purpose-driven businesses can have," said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest. "By providing both funding and surplus product, Gay Lea Foods is helping us get nutritious, high-quality food—like dairy—into communities that really need it, while also keeping good food out of landfills."

In addition to its financial contribution, Gay Lea Foods will send even more surplus product from production sites across Canada to non-profit organizations through Second Harvest. 

Watch a video about the partnership below: