Winnebago Industries Foundation Teams up with Vikings Table to Address Summer Hunger
FOREST CITY, IOWA, July 29, 2020 – The Winnebago Industries Foundation and the Minnesota Vikings Foundation are working together to provide meals to children in the Twin Cities and North Iowa this summer through the Vikings Table food truck program.
Throughout the summer, the Winnebago Industries Foundation has supported the Vikings Table’s efforts to serve healthy meals to youth across the Greater Twin Cities area where children miss approximately 250,000 meals in the summer months.
During the next four weeks, the Winnebago Industries Foundation and the Minnesota Vikings Foundation will partner with North Iowa school districts and food banks to feed families in the Iowa communities where Winnebago Industries has locations - Charles City, Forest City, Lake Mills and Waverly.
“Since it was introduced last year, Vikings Table has set out to impact the well-being of youth through innovative and engaging programming,” said Brett Taber, Minnesota Vikings Foundation executive director. “We are thrilled to partner with Winnebago and the Winnebago Industries Foundation to reach more youth and families in North Iowa this summer.”
In 2019, the Minnesota Vikings Foundation rolled out Vikings Table, a custom-built food truck designed and produced by Winnebago Industries Specialty Vehicles used to distribute healthy meals to youth dealing with food insecurity. This innovative program primarily has served Twin Cities-based youth and families. In March as pandemic-related closures took hold, Vikings Table transformed to deliver individually packaged meals to youth and families each weekday—providing the dual benefit of much-needed food assistance as well as employment for recently laid off restaurant workers.
“We strive to partner with nonprofit organizations to advance three important social impact priorities: outdoors, access and community,” said Katy Friesz, Winnebago Industries Foundation executive director. “This unique partnership with the Minnesota Vikings Foundation allows us to leverage Winnebago Industries’ unique capabilities to mobilize resources to reach people in times of need, while addressing heightened food insecurity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Vikings Table food truck itself won’t be able to make an appearance in Iowa communities, due to COVID-19, but meals will be served on the following distribution dates:
- July 29 Forest City, Forest City Community School District summer meal program
- Aug. 6 Lake Mills, Lake Mills Salem Church Summer Meal Program
- Aug. 11 Waverly, Waverly Mobile Pantry
- Aug. 19 Charles City, Charles City Mobile Pantry
About Winnebago Industries and Winnebago Industries Foundation
Winnebago Industries, Inc. is a leading North American manufacturer of outdoor lifestyle products under the Winnebago, Grand Design, Newmar and Chris-Craft brands, which are used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. The Company builds quality motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheel products and boats. Winnebago Industries has multiple facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Florida. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol WGO.
The Winnebago Industries Foundation seeks to inspire new generations of outdoor enthusiasts, mobilize resources to reach people in need, and support employee volunteers to build strong communities where we work, live and explore. We focus our community investment in three impact areas: outdoors, access, and community. Learn more at https://winnebagoind.com/community.
About the Minnesota Vikings Foundation
The Minnesota Vikings Foundation is a public nonprofit dedicated to advancing the well-being of youth through engaging health and education initiatives. This generation is the first in history tracking to have a shorter life expectancy than its parent generation due to physical inactivity and poor nutrition. Additionally, Minnesota has one of the largest achievement gaps in the country as evidenced through test scores and graduations rates. These are the areas in which the Minnesota Vikings Foundation is focusing to operate direct service programming in order to have a measurable impact in our community. The Foundation enlists the support of Vikings players, staff, and fans across our community in support of this mission. Join us as we Forge Ahead Together at vikings.com/foundation.
Winnebago Industries Contact: Sam Jefson - Public Relations Specialist – 641-585-6803 - sjefson@wgo.net
Minnesota Vikings Foundation Contact: Brett Taber- Executive Director- taberb@vikings.nfl.net