USA – Mars Incorporated, the American multinational confectionery, food, and petcare products company, has announced a new commitment which includes an initial cash and in-kind donation of US$20 million to support communities most affected by COVID-19.
The support package also includes a US$5 million donation to support CARE for critical supplies and expertise that will be deployed in the developing world, to women, children and refugee populations.
The company will also donate US$2 million to the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) to aid in the transport and delivery of critical supplies for all United Nations agencies as they respond to the pandemic.
Mars further noted that an additional US$1 million donation will be made to the Humane Society International (HSI) to help “cats and dogs that have been abandoned, left behind or surrendered to shelters due to their owners falling ill or no longer having the financial means to care for them.”
The company said that the remaining US$12 million will come from a combination of cash and in-kind donations from across the markets where Mars operates as well as donations from its Foundations including.
The Mars Wrigley Foundation, the Banfield Foundation, the Pedigree Foundation and the Tasty Bite Foundation will be involved in the initiative.
“Our approach for working through this COVID crisis has been, and will continue to be, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our Associates, doing our part to prevent the spread of the virus and caring for our communities,” said Grant F. Reid, Chief Executive Officer of Mars.
“We’re announcing a commitment of $20 million in cash and in-kind product donations to support the hundreds of communities where we live and work, or whom we depend upon for our agricultural ingredients.
“We’re all in this together and we want to do our part to help those most in need.”
With the commitment, Mars joins its peers in the food industry including Unilever, PepsiCo and Nestle among others in providing emergency economic support packages for communities that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
