Amcor & Kraft Heinz donate 78,000 boxes of Mac & Cheese

OSHKOSH, WI- (WISS) – Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Amcor and Kraft Heinz are donating more than 78,000 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese to food banks across the country. Fox Valley food pantries will receive 49,000 of those boxes.

Ryan Rasmussen, Executive Director of the Oshkosh Area Food Pantry, said that one in three people, or 30% of the Winnebago County residents, faces food insecurity. He added that in the Oshkosh Area School District, 54% of the students are considered economically disadvantaged and face food insecurity. 

“This is an incredible, incredible donation,” Rasmussen said. “We hope that this donation will last through the entire holiday season. Because who doesn’t love Mac & Cheese at Thanksgiving? I know I do.”

Rasmussen said that of the 28 pallets of Kraft Mac & Cheese donated to the Fox Valley’s food pantries, 14 would be distributed by the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry to pantries throughout Oshkosh, Winneconne, and Omro. The other 14 pallets will be distributed by St. Joseph’s Food Program in Menasha to Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, and Kimberly.

Amcor Cares

Ethan Haas, Amcor Foundation Board President, and Amcor Liquid Vice President & General Manager, said Amcor makes the packaging for Kraft Mac & Cheese, so the partnership fell into place. But the majority of the effort was the employees of Amcor.

“They see the need in their communities. They see it with their neighbors, and they wanted to make an impact at this time of year when many families are struggling throughout the valley,” Haas said. 

Mary Ann Dilling with the Amcor Cares charitable foundation said that employees of Amcor collected Kraft Mac & Cheese to donate. 

“We had an opportunity to unite all of our colleagues across North America to make an impact in this world. To say I am proud of our colleagues would be an understatement,” Dilling said. 

Dilling said Amcor’s client, Kraft Heinz, heard about the food drive and donated 49,000 boxes of the product. She added that care and generosity resonate with the Amcor employees throughout North America.

“To be able to give back is something that we have a culture of care,” said Dilling. “Not only for our colleagues but also for the communities where we work, live, and raise a family.”

Mac & Cheese is good. More needs to be done.

Haas emphasized that this donation from Amcor and Kraft Heinz is just a drop in the bucket of what is needed in our communities. He encourages everyone to step up and make an impact.

“We also have to recognize that the impact we’re making has to continue. So this is only a start. (Area pantries) would tell you that they have the most amount of demand right now. And during the holiday season, it increases significantly,” Haas said. “So being Thanksgiving time, we all have an opportunity to step up and even make more impact. So we encourage you to consider helping these pantries. Not only St. Joe’s and the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry, but throughout the valley. There’s plenty of great food pantries, so we need to step up and help our communities.”

Amcor has 14 plants in Wisconsin, most of them in the Fox Valley, and employs about 4,600 people in the state.