The Milk Processor Education Program has teamed with the National Dairy Council and Feeding America, the country’s largest network of food banks, to launch the Great American Milk Drive. It’s the first nationwide program designed to encourage consumers to donate milk to hungry families. The drive will launch on April 2 in New York City at one of the country’s largest food banks, City Harvest, along with simultaneous events in 10 other markets around the country.

According to Feeding America, milk is the top food requested by its clients, but the nation’s food banks can’t meet the demand because milk is rarely donated. In fact, the 37 million Americans served annually by the Feeding America network  receive the equivalent of less than one gallon of milk per person per year.

The Great American Milk Drive will make it easy for people to buy milk online at www.milklife.com/give and donate it to their local food pantry for as little as $5 at a time. Every dollar collected will go to purchasing and delivering milk to hungry families through the Feeding America network.

MilkPEP and DMI are spending millions of dollars on marketing support and offering thousands of hours of staff time to raise awareness, build a sustainable supply for food banks and encourage donations.

“This is a big problem that won’t be solved overnight. So we’ve made a multi-year commitment – which means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to build customized local programs to fit your business and meet the needs in your community,” said Julia Kadison, interim CEO for MilkPEP, in a recent email to processors.

Processors are encouraged to visit www.MilkPEP.org/drive to learn more about the program.

Members with questions may contact Donna Armstrong, MilkPEP senior manager of communications, at darmstrong@milkpep.org.