Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) and nine agencies in the CCUSA network have facilitated a partnership with the Dairy Pricing Association (DPA), a grassroots dairy farmer organization that donates excess dairy products to humanitarian causes, to provide 40,000 pounds (retail value over $150,000) of Wisconsin Cheddar cheese to regional food banks and food pantries. The cheese was manufactured at Minerva Dairy of Minerva, Ohio, with milk produced by local family dairy farmers, one of whom is a DPA Member.
CCUSA and participating agencies funded the transportation and processing of the cheese and managed the distribution. The cheese, which was divided and packaged for ease of disbursement, reached over 38,000 families just in time for Christmas 2018. DPA and CCUSA hope to help member agencies with periodic distributions of dairy products in the future.
The Catholic Charities agencies that received and disbursed the cheese are the following: Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington; Catholic Charities Diocese of Rochester; Catholic Charities New Hampshire; Catholic Social Services Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Catholic Charities Camden; Catholic Charities Trenton; Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Chicago; Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada; Catholic Charities Terra Haute.
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