For decades, Rich’s has proudly partnered with FeedMore WNY in their quest to brighten Western New York’s future by offering dignity and hope through access to nutritious meals for those in need in our neighborhoods. Food and financial donations from Rich’s, including a $1 million contribution to FeedMore WNY’s capital campaign in 2024, are bolstered by regular volunteer contributions from associates. 

In September of 2024, Rich’s Regulatory Affairs department dispatched a team of 15 volunteers to the FeedMore WNY warehouse to sort food donations as part of a week-long, annual team meeting that typically includes team building and community outreach activities in addition to training and business presentations. 

The Regulatory team first visited FeedMore WNY in 2019, and four team members are regular volunteers for the Meals on Wheels (MOW) home delivery program throughout WNY. In 2023, a FeedMore WNY representative attended that year’s business meeting to speak about the organization’s strategy and vision.

While the Regulatory team includes many associates based out of Buffalo, there are also team members scattered across the country that aren’t as familiar with FeedMore WNY or the needs of Rich’s hometown community. It is important to Eynon to continue to educate the broader team about Rich’s commitment to community and the organizations fighting to alleviate hunger. 

One of the volunteers was a remote associate from Michigan, Jennifer Kaupp, Senior Regulatory Specialist, Global Markets. Kaupp was surprised to learn about the magnitude of the need in the WNY community.

“FeedMore WNY’s efforts to address food insecurity are monumental,” said Kaupp. “It was eye-opening to see how many people rely on their services. The dedication of the volunteers and staff at FeedMore WNY also really stuck with me; their commitment is truly admirable.”

Kaupp was one of 15 associates that visited FeedMore WNY on September 25, 2024, and volunteered in the warehouse where they unpacked pallets full of canned goods and perishable items such as cereal, fruit snacks, granola bars and boxes of pasta which were then sorted into categories and used to prepare packages of assorted goods for FeedMore WNY clients to pick up.“As a food manufacturer, we are constantly working on various food items, and it can be easy to forget that not everyone is able to readily access the food they need,” said volunteer Noah Sinkiewicz, Senior Regulatory Specialist – USC TCCS/Donuts. “While at FeedMore WNY, it was surprising to hear how large the impact of food insecurity is on Western New York but also inspiring to learn about the wide variety of organizations trying to help.”

Eynon was proud of her team’s dedication to the project and how much they accomplished in such a short time. “Everyone was hustling, and we worked efficiently together,” she said. “It was really energizing to see the team come together and be genuinely invested and excited to complete the task we were assigned.”

“FeedMore WNY could not fulfill our mission without the support of our dedicated volunteers. Every day, we rely on volunteers to deliver meals to our homebound neighbors, sort and pack food donations to be distributed to our partner hunger-relief agencies, and countless other mission-critical tasks that help alleviate hunger in our community. Thanks to volunteers like our friends at Rich’s, we are able to provide nutritious food and vital support to Western New Yorkers facing food insecurity,” Collin Bishop, chief communications officer for FeedMore WNY said.

The volunteers unanimously agreed that the experience was both rewarding and fun, and a great opportunity to build new bonds among the team. The experience gave the team a chance to show different sides of their personality, share stories and foster personal connections that extend beyond the workplace.

The team’s effort contributes to the substantial community impact of two pioneering companies that merged in 2020 to form FeedMore WNY: the Food Bank of WNY and Meals on Wheels. In 2024, FeedMore WNY assisted 165,722 individuals across its four-county service area of Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. Of the total number of people served in 2024, nearly 53,400 were children and more than 41,200 were older adults. Last year, FeedMore WNY distributed more than 15.8 million pounds of food through its food bank distribution network to food pantries, soup kitchens, schools and other hunger-relief partners; and provided nearly 1.5 million meals to its home-delivered meal clients, community dining sites and additional meal contracts.

“When you hear the statistics and you see how far-reaching FeedMore WNY’s programs are to different subsets of the community, you can’t help but want to be involved and want to be part of the solution,” remarked Eynon. “FeedMore WNY has their finger on the pulse of where they can make an impact, and by partnering with an organization like that we can be assured that our time and effort is going to be well placed.”

Sinkiewicz found the FeedMore WNY volunteer experience to be a great demonstration of Rich’s taking meaningful action to back-up a longstanding commitment to bettering the community. 

“Rich’s recognizes the importance of community engagement and are willing to use business hours to give back and help fill a need,” explained Sinkiewicz. 

As a leader, planner and participant in the FeedMore WNY volunteer effort, Eynon describes the event as one more reason to be proud to be part of Rich’s. 

“We talk a lot about our competitive advantage being our people,” said Eynon. “And to be able to leverage those people, in the same way we do to support our business, but in support of our community is a unique way to keep associates engaged.”

To learn more about FeedMore WNY and find out how you can support their efforts to alleviate hunger in WNY, visit Feedmorewny.org/donate.

Meet the Team

These four Regulatory associates join a group of more than 45 Rich’s volunteers that participate in the Meals on Wheels program: Kate Saenz, Rebecca Decker, Kim Nowak and Tracey Michel.

The Regulatory team members that volunteered at FeedMore WNY included: Brooks Mancinelli, Kim Nowak, Jennifer Eynon, Jennifer Kaupp, Nicole Skelton, Ingrid Maliskova, Amy Miles, Rebecca Decker, Bruno Pelletier, Tracey Michel, Ryan Jackson, Kate Saenz, Jennifer Bedworth, Noah Sinkiewicz, Alyssa Cook, John Tilyou and Stephen Walker.