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ELWOOD, Ind. (Nov. 24, 2021) – Since the inception of the annual Run to Crush Hunger race event in 2012, Red Gold, a family-owned producer of bestselling tomato products sold across the United States, has partnered with 7,800 participants to raise nearly $500,000 in the effort to fight hunger, providing more than 1.9 million meals to local Hoosier communities.
The tenth running of the popular race took place throughout the month of October. Traditionally, participants would gather on an October Saturday in downtown Elwood, Indiana to run, jog, walk, and socialize. Though the current environment dramatically altered those plans yet again this year, Red Gold’s event organizers decided to continue this charitable event by holding it virtually for the second year in a row.
“Our biggest priority was to help crush hunger while also keeping our communities safe,” said Emily Ault, Race Director. “After making the decision to go virtual for the second year in a row, we were overwhelmed with encouragement from everyone. We are so thankful for the support of all of our participants, sponsors, and those who donated to this amazing event. Their kindness is what makes all of this possible and we couldn’t be more proud!”
According to Tim Kean, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana and a Crush Hunger participant who has yet to miss a race, “one in eight Americans struggle with keeping food on the table. In Indiana alone, one in six Hoosiers struggle with hunger. In East Central Indiana, over one million people are not able to provide food for themselves or their families. 33% of these individuals are children living in low-income households who face the threat of hunger daily.”
“Everyone deserves to have nutritional stability,” said Colt Reichart, a fourth-generation owner at Red Gold. “Fortunately, this national celebration has quickly become a premier annual event that helps support that stability for Indiana small towns and their communities in so many ways.” And the event has aspirations beyond even that, Reichart continued, “Crushing hunger is the goal, but so is having an impact on the Indiana youth and families who continue to participate and benefit more from active lifestyles.”
With over 400 virtual participants in 2021 alone, Red Gold announced that the 10th Annual Red Gold Run to Crush Hunger raised nearly $67,000 through participants all over America in 18 different states and 89 cities. “We had virtual runners all across the country!” Ault added. This year’s proceeds from the race were presented to Second Harvest Food Bank and the George Morrisett Center Food Pantry. The Morrisett Pantry has been providing financial assistance to underprivileged families in the community of Elwood since it was established in 1999.
Companies that joined in with Red Gold’s efforts to crush hunger included platinum-level sponsors Ardagh Group, BMO Harris Bank, Cigna, Morning Star, Pacific Farms, RWE, and Terrance A. Smith Distributing. Red-level sponsors included Anthem, Folds of Honor, MJ Insurance, Pioneer Packaging, Subway, and Stoops. Gold-level sponsors included American Containers, Cargill, CDW, Graham Packaging Company, Hallmark Orthodontics, and Leaf Software Solutions. Green-level sponsors included Anderson Madison County Visitors Bureau, Beckman Lawson LLC, CIE, Flexware Innovation, Kaman Industrial Technologies, Madison Chemical Co., and Michigan Sugar.
With everyone’s shoes barely untied, Red Gold is already looking forward to next year and beyond. The 11th Annual Run to Crush Hunger will be taking place on October 22, 2022. Anyone who is interested in learning more about this event can visit www.CrushHungerSaturday.com
About Red Gold
Four generations of the Reichart family have been producing the world’s freshest, best tasting tomato products since 1942. When the US entered WWII, the government asked citizens to step up and help the war effort and the call was answered. Since then, Red Gold has become the largest privately owned tomato processor in the nation with three state-of-the-art facilities in Elwood, Geneva, and Orestes, Indiana. The company also boasts a million square foot distribution center in Alexandria and operates the subsidiary RG Transport trucking fleet in Elwood. Red Gold partners with local family farms across Indiana, southern Michigan, and Northwest Ohio to sustainably produce premium quality canned tomatoes, ketchup, sauces, salsas, and juices for foodservice, private brands, brands, export, co-pack, club and retail channels of distribution. The Red Gold family of consumer brands includes Red Gold, Redpack, Tuttorosso, Huy Fong Sriracha, Sacramento, and Tomato Love. Superior Quality, Outstanding Service and Operational Excellence are the shared values that contributed to the employee-created mission statement: “To produce the freshest, best tasting tomato products in the world.”
Visit the award-winning website RedGoldTomatoes.com for great recipes, tips and culinary inspiration.
Red Gold. Family Owned, Grown, and Made.