LIVERPOOL — Dot Foods, a foodservice distribution center with a warehouse in Liverpool, spent much of September giving back to the communities in which its employees live and work.
As part of the company’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, Dot Foods donated $30,000 in food to the following Upstate New York food pantries:
• The Salvation Army of Syracuse
• Syracuse Northeast Community Center
• Catholic Charities of Oswego, Fulton
• The Salvation Army of Oswego
• Rescue Mission of Utica
• Samaritan Center, Syracuse
“The Neighbor to Neighbor program is something that we at the Liverpool distribution center look forward to,” said Adam Smith, general manager of Dot Foods New York. “It’s important to us, it’s important to Dot Foods, and it aligns with our values.”
Dot Foods also provided personal hygiene supplies for some of the food pantries’ clients.
“Those things were very, very difficult to source and the demand and need for them the last two years have gone up. They were over the moon when we were able to provide at least some of them,” Smith said.
The recipient agencies expressed their gratitude to Dot Foods.
“We were excited to be chosen for Dot Foods’ Neighbor to Neighbor program because I believe it will add items that are not readily available through the food bank and might stretch my budget,” said Kristi Schoff, family support assistant at the Syracuse Northeast Community Center. “This will allow me to purchase more food from the food bank and provide our neighbors with as much food support as needed.”
“We are always beyond grateful for the donations we get from Dot Foods,” said Captain Heather Odom of the Oswego County Salvation Army. “Dot’s employees are amazing and go the extra mile to deliver food that is needed in our community. In times where funding is being cut, this donation will help our efforts tremendously.”
Most of Dot Foods’ distribution centers — there are 12 in the U.S. and two in Canada — have a charitable committee that meets monthly to direct the company’s giving efforts.
“We reach out to a variety of different places in the area. We try to target pantries that are in the county that we’re in … but we also want to reach pantries that are where our employees reside as well,” Smith said.
When the pandemic brought restaurants and other businesses to a screeching halt in 2020, Dot Foods suddenly had to figure out what to do with perishable, temperature-controlled foods like yogurt.
“The pandemic is — was — a tough time for industries and it was hard for Dot as well, but the one thing we didn’t cut back on was charitable giving,” Smith said. “When the world shut down, demand slowed down. We basically created on the fly a process to reach out to Salvation Army, food pantries … to donate short shelf-life products. We knew the community would be able to use them.”
Beyond the Neighbor-to-Neighbor donations, Dot Foods employees have plenty of opportunities to give back. The company’s Teaming with Local Charities (TLC) program matches interested employees with volunteer causes, and Dot Foods also donates items outside of the Neighbor to Neighbor program’s September season.
Through the company’s sponsorship of Fulton Speedway and Brewerton Speedway, Dot Foods recently was able to give away 20 backpacks with school supplies to Fulton students and 100 backpacks to Brewerton students.
The company also made a $2,000 donation to Clary’s Closet, a Baldwinsville nonprofit that provides clothing essentials to schoolchildren across Upstate New York.
“It’s a part of our core values of our company. We’re a family-owned business and have been for 60-plus years,” Smith said. “[We want to] make it feel like we’re having an impact to live in the community that we’re a part of.”
For job-seekers who value a company that gives back to the community, Smith said, Dot Foods and Dot Transportation are currently hiring. To learn more, visit DotFoodsCareers.com or DriveForDTI.com.
