JR Holland Food Services has signed up to deliver free fresh fruit and vegetables to Children North East, the region’s oldest children’s charity.
Children North East runs a variety of projects across the region to support children, teens and families through difficult times, enabling them to move forward and reach their full potential.
The move is part of the firm’s rolling corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy, which includes these in-kind fruit and vegetable donations to inner-city projects around the region.
As a firm supporter of the 5 A DAY initiative, JR Holland says it understands how important it is for growing children to have fruit and vegetables in their daily diet.
The firm will deliver fruit and vegetables weekly to underprivileged children, teens and families in the region.
Dennis Hutchinson, managing director of JR Holland Food Services, said: “JR Holland’s heritage and its future lie within the North East and we have established ourselves as the leading foodservice provider in the region. As an ethical business, we place a high importance on giving back to the community in which we operate.”
JR Holland’s CSR work already includes two local community projects at Stepney Bank Stables in Newcastle and Clarence’s Community Farm in Stockton.
Carol Taylor, senior fundraiser for Children North East, said: “Many of the children that we support do not have the opportunity to be educated about healthy eating or the means to have fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet. In fact, many of the children that come to our projects do not know the name of exotic fruits like a pineapple, let alone have an idea of what one looks like.”
