What a difference a year makes! One year ago this month, The Great American Milk Drive began as a way to increase much-needed milk donations for Feeding America® food banks. Milk is a versatile family favorite, but, for many families, it is not easy to come by. On average, food banks distribute only about one gallon of milk per person, per year. Since milk is a fresh product that must be kept cold, it is often difficult for food banks to find the refrigerated storage space necessary to keep it on hand.

To date, over 293,000 gallons of milk have been raised for families nationwide, and we recently acknowledged the first anniversary of the campaign by sharing 1,000 gallons of milk with our food bank partners. However, we have a long way to go to ensure that every family facing hunger in our country has access to healthy foods like milk. But with the help of additional retailers and the support of energetic, dedicated food bank partners, we are confident we can help more families gain access to milk this year.

Here are a few photo highlights about our progress to date:

Dairy farmer Mark Duffy, CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank Catherine D’Amato, New England Patriot Devin McCourty, and Vice President of Food Acquisition Cheryl Schondek gather at The Greater Boston Food Bank to launch The Great American Milk Drive in April 2014.

Spreading the word about the need for milk at food banks at Walk Against Hunger events in Connecticut

Vice President of Food Acquisition Cheryl Schondek offers a tour of The Greater Boston Food Bank to Great American Milk Drive contributors Doug and Dianne Langeland of Edible Cape Cod and Ilene Bezahler of Edible Boston.

Partners celebrate The Great American Milk Drive to benefit New Hampshire Food Bank at Hannaford locations in greater Manchester, New Hampshire

Connecticut Food Bank Resource Development Manager Theresa Dobson and Adams Hometown Markets Director of Sales Tony Groszew celebrate The Great American Milk Drive. Adams Hometown Markets customers raised $5,890 in milk donations for the Connecticut Food Bank.

Registered dietitian Heidi Harkopf talks about the need for milk at Foodshare’s Convoy of Caring event in this video. Foodshare recently shared their thoughts about the need for donations of fresh food like milk through their blog here.

Farm Credit East staff gathered with Windsor Wheels food backpack program, Foodshare, and dairy farmer Megan Hastings to announce their contribution of $1,000 in milk donations.

Feeling inspired? Please keep an eye out for upcoming Great American Milk Drive announcements or donate today!