The other season of giving: local businesses bolster the Utah Food Bank.

• Author: Stewart, Heather

During the holiday season, the Utah Food Bank relies on the generosity of Utahns to fill its pantries and provide meals to families living in poverty. But as the weather warms, this generosity wanes--and the Utah Food Bank turns to the business community to lead the charge in bringing in donations.

During the "Summer Business Food Drive," which runs from June 1 through the end of August each year, local companies and their employees rally around the Utah Food Bank, providing much-needed food and cash to the organization.

Hunger in Utah

The Utah Food Bank is a vital resource for struggling families, especially with so many people out of work. In fact, one in 10 people in the state live in poverty and, sadly, 42 percent of those seeking food assistance are children. And while donations decrease during the summer, the need remains constant.

The summer business food drive helps keep pantries stocked throughout the year. Many local companies get involved each summer collecting donations of food and money from employees, customers and the community.

"Utah's business community is very generous, though many do not realize the importance of their contributions outside the holiday season," says Jim Pugh, CEO of Utah Food Bank. "We ask that businesses of all sizes and industries participate in Utah Food Bank's Summer Business Food Drive to help collect food and funds during the season that donations are the lowest."

Donations of money are particularly important to the food bank, as it can leverage every dollar donated into $7 worth of food and services.

So Fidelity Investments' contribution this year of nearly $25,000 will go a long way to easing hunger in the state. Fidelity Investments was the top financial contributor to the Utah Food Bank's summer drive. "And all of that is employee generated," says Monica Yocom, community relations coordinator for Fidelity Investments.

The company has been involved with the Summer Business Food Drive since 1996. "It's something that our employees love," says Yocom. "This is a program that's not hard to get people involved in."

Employee teams compete to raise the most money, and Fidelity Investments holds fundraising events, like the annual pancake breakfast auction. Educating employees about the issue of hunger in the state is another key component of the company's efforts. Employees learned more about the backpack program, for example, which sends a backpack full of food home with schoolchildren who are at-risk...