IFCO donates food containers to Meals on Wheels—Covid-19 roundup for May 26

IFCO Systems, a provider of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for fresh food packaging, has teamed with the food relief organization Meals on Wheels People to help provide meals to food-insecure seniors in the Greater Portland, Oregon, region.

The company is donating 600 RPCs to Meals on Wheels that will allow volunteers to pack and deliver nearly 8,000 meals daily to homebound seniors throughout the greater Portland-Vancouver metro area. The donation comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed Meals on Wheels’ daily meal production to jump from its usual level of 5,000 meals daily, even as the group has slashed its delivery schedule from five days per week to just one day per week.

IFCO’s RPCs are used to package, ship, store, and transport a wide variety of fresh foods, including produce, baked goods, and eggs and meat products from production facilities to retail or residential locations.  Every RPC is collected by IFCO after each use and cleaned, washed, and sanitized before being used again.

“As a vital part of the global food supply chain, IFCO has a strong commitment to fighting hunger and food insecurity in the U.S. and around the world,” Dan Martin, president of IFCO North America, said in a release. “Now, more than ever, we want to step up and help our friends at Meals on Wheels People get more food to more people during this terrible crisis.”

And in other examples of the logistics industry dedicating its assets to the coronavirus fight:

• Freight forwarder Damco has helped deliver over 120 parcels containing gifts and personal items to U.S. Antarctic Program personnel who are stuck at a remote polar research station during the Covid-19 pandemic. Damco delivered chocolate bars, DVDs, contact lenses, and gifts from family by adding that freight to a chartered A319 aircraft loaded with a consignment of scientific equipment destined for the the National Science Foundation-managed McMurdo Station. The company’s Australia team compiled the goods by retrieving packages from multiple post offices and even personally shopping for hard-to-find items on the Antarctic team’s wish lists. “In a time with a lot of negatives it was great to see our team members work together and rise to the occasion when we received this special request from the McMurdo team,” Alex Paton, Damco’s district head of Air Freight ANZ, said in a release. “We have been transporting samples and equipment for the station for a number of years, but this is the first time we have helped deliver personal items.”
• Temperature-controlled warehouse operator Americold Realty Trust has donated $100,000 to the childhood hunger nonprofit Feed the Children in order to support Covid-19 relief for families in crisis. The donation will help deliver more food, water, and daily essentials for living (like shampoo, laundry detergent, and toothpaste) directly to families, and will facilitate drop-and-go operations for children without food during school closures. In addition, Americold is providing free temperature-controlled transportation services to deliver cold food to those who need it most. Earlier this month, Americold trucked more than 84,000 pounds of donated milk and dairy products from Texas to one of Feed the Children's community partners in Leola, Pennsylvania.
• The Port of Los Angeles and Logistics Victory Los Angeles (LoVLA) have received a donation of more than 11,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) from Harbor Freight Tools, a long-time customer at the Port of Los Angeles. As a city program created to identify available medical supplies in the private sector, and then allocate them to the appropriate medical facility, LoVLA will distribute the equipment to health groups throughout the city in the fight against Covid-19. The Harbor Freight Tools donation includes 1,500 nitrile gloves, 500 N95 respirator masks, nearly 9,300 deluxe face shields, and 60 five-gallon spray bottles. “We know how acute the need is for personal protective equipment, especially for the heroic healthcare workers on the front lines caring for COVID-19 patients,” Eric Smidt, owner and founder of Harbor Freight Tools, said in a release. “We’re grateful for their work and dedication and proud to partner with the Port of L.A. to deliver our PPE donations to hospitals in our hometown.” 
• Forklift vendor Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Corp. has made its lift truck operator training video content free for supply chains adapting to the effects of Covid-19, saying the giveaway is meant to help businesses adhere to health and safety protocols as they onboard the necessary labor to keep operations moving as the economy reopens. The videos are available at no cost for a limited time through the company’s Yale and Hyster brands, covering characteristics of class I-V lift trucks, operating environment considerations, requirements of OSHA 1910.178, and safe operating practices. "Essential supply chains need to get new lift truck operators up and running fast, while adhering to both OSHA training mandates and social distancing protocols,” Evelyn Velasquez-Cuevas, product sales and technical training manager, said in a release. “Our goal is to provide access to training resources for safe, productive lift truck operation and help businesses respond to the effects of Covid-19.”

To see further coverage of the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the logistics industry, check out our Covid-19 landing page. And click here for our compilation of virus-focused websites and resource pages from around the supply chain sector.

We are #AmericoldPROUD to support our friends at @feedthechildren. https://t.co/fy6nQZtAuw

— Americold (@americold) May 20, 2020