Forty percent, or nearly $200 billion of food in the U.S. goes to waste each year. Making this statistic harder to comprehend, 40 million people struggle with hunger, and 12 million of them are children. To address this sensless epidemic, Thermo King, the leader in transport temperature control solutions for a variety of mobile applications and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, has committed nearly $500,000 to expand its social sustainability program, We Move Food™.
This latest commitment catapults the program’s total giving to nearly $750,000 in just two years resulting in more than 5.7 million meals for people in need.
“Thermo King and our entire dealer network are passionate about finding innovative ways where we can do our part in helping to address hunger,“ said Ray Pittard, president of Thermo King. “The We Move Food program helps to build sustainable partnerships with hunger relief organizations enabling us to use our expertise, our time and our technology to build their transport refrigeration capacity so that they can increase the amount of fresh food they deliver, expand the communities that they serve and reach even more families in need.”
More than 23 million people in the United States live in areas where access to affordable and healthy food options is limited or nonexistent. And nearly half of those people are considered low income making it even more challenging to attain the nutrition necessary to live healthy and active lifestyles.
“Transport refrigeration plays a critical role in addressing food insecurity. With the staggering amount of waste each year and the millions who are suffering, we know that producing more food is not the answer. We need to recover what would potentially be wasted and get that fresh food to the people in need. That’s literally what Thermo King and our dealer network does – we move food,” said Pittard.
Ingersoll Rand and Thermo King employees from across the U.S. alongside employees from the Thermo King dealer network, which is nearly 200 strong and located in all major U.S. cities, are volunteering at mobile food pantries and food drives, reclaiming healthy food from retailers and restaurants, and working with community food banks to make their operations run more efficiently and effectively.
Thermo King and Ingersoll Rand have a national relationship with Feeding America, a nationwide network of 200 food banks and the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Ingersoll Rand’s roots are grounded in addressing global trends like food stability, that impact the way that we live, work and move. As part of the company’s commitment to sustainability, it has set and is working toward achieving 2020 sustainability goals including supporting food stability and nutritional education to 200,000 children through signature programs like We Move Food. Ingersoll Rand has exceeded the goal, two years ahead of schedule.
# # #
About Ingersoll Rand and Thermo King
Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR) advances the quality of life by creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments. Our people and our family of brands — including Club Car®, Ingersoll Rand®, Thermo King® and Trane® — work together to enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings; transport and protect food and perishables; and increase industrial productivity and efficiency. The Ingersoll Rand charitable foundation centers on social and environmental imperatives that create lasting value and improve our communities globally.
Thermo King Corp. was founded in 1938 and manufactures transport temperature control systems for a variety of mobile applications, including trailers, truck bodies, buses, shipboard containers and railway cars. We are a $14 billion global business committed to a world of sustainable progress and enduring results. For more information, visit www.ingersollrand.com or www.thermoking.com.