With June here, one of the most frequent questions I hear is: “Got plans for the summer?” Usually when people ask this question, they’re eager to share their own plans. If I’m asked that question, my answer is a little different.
I officially kicked off my summer last Thursday by going on a Food for Good route. Food for Good is a PepsiCo initiative that provides healthy meals and fun games and physical activities to underserved kids during the summer when they’re out of school. In fact, over the last three summers, our team has served several hundred thousand meals to kids in need. It’s a real partnership between the community and PepsiCo and exemplifies the heart of Performance with Purpose, our corporate vision. (That's one of our route trucks, pictured above.)
I spent the past few weeks getting more and more excited for the program to start up again. At the end of my first day, I was overwhelmed –- just like the first day of previous years. The kids are a year older than the last time I saw them, and it was great to catch up on the school year that just ended. Community members expressed their gratitude for our efforts -- many even remembered us from the previous year and had been hoping we would be back!
I also had the pleasure of meeting a new face last week, a man named Donald. Donald works at night and takes care of several kids during the day -- kids from his church whose parents cannot afford daytime child care. When Donald saw the Food for Good crew pulling up, he couldn’t hold back the tears as he thanked us. The free meals, he explained, eased the burden for many families that were struggling just to get by. Even more, the program showed him that others cared about his community as much as he did and were willing to reach out and make a difference. While we talked, I noticed so many happy children eating and playing nearby with smiles and laughter on their faces. Programs like Food for Good, and community members like Donald, are giving kids a chance to be kids and to have the summers they deserve.
So if you ask me what I am doing this summer, I’m doing a small part in making a big difference. And in return, I’m giving myself some of the best memories I will cherish for years to come. What are you doing this summer? Whatever it is, I encourage you to make a difference in some way.
- Randy
Recent Comments