Super Bowl Champ Teams-Up with Fill a Glass with Hope Leaders and Calls on PA Farm Show Attendees to Donate to Address Hunger in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today at the PA Farm Show, the tenth anniversary of the Fill a Glass with Hope® charitable milk distribution program was celebrated with a $181,500 total donation thanks to generous sponsors of the 2025 program year.
Joining Feeding Pennsylvania to announce the tenth anniversary launch were supporters: Two-time Super Bowl Champion and Former NFL quarterback (Pittsburgh Steelers) Charlie Batch; Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding; Feeding Pennsylvania CEO Julie Bancroft; PA Dairymen’s Association Executive Director Dave Smith; Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program (PDPP) Farmer Lolly Lesher; and American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) CEO John Chrisman. Other key participants included PA Dairy Princess Royalty, state, business and government leaders, sponsors, dairy industry leaders, and Feeding Pennsylvania member food bank representatives and leaders.
Food insecurity affects neighbors in every county in the Commonwealth, with rural areas having some of the highest rates of food-insecure households. In fact, more than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians, including 436,000 children, experience food insecurity each year. Because of programs like Fill a Glass with Hope, Feeding Pennsylvania’s nine partner food banks distribute more than 237 million pounds of food through a network of over 2,750 agencies and feeding programs.
“This year, as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of Fill a Glass with Hope, the outpouring of support from our sponsors and partners for this program is a remarkable reminder of how communities come together to support and uplift their neighbors,” said Feeding Pennsylvania CEO Julie Bancroft.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding thanked the hardworking dairy farmers who are vital partners in the Fill a Glass with Hope charitable milk program and valued members of the Pennsylvania agriculture industry.
“In a state as rich in resources as Pennsylvania, it is unacceptable that anyone would be insecure about where their next meal will come from,” Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding remarked. “The Shapiro Administration is pleased to partner with generous Pennsylvania farmers and partners like Feeding Pennsylvania who work year-round toward a day when no one in PA goes hungry. We’re grateful to Feeding Pennsylvania, American Dairy Association North East and Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association for their devotion to ending hunger in PA, and for ten years of generosity through Fill a Glass with Hope.”
Fill a Glass with Hope was first launched in 2015 through a partnership of local dairy farmers, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Once Feeding PA signed onto the program, it evolved into the country’s first statewide charitable fresh milk distribution program currently supplying more than 41 million servings of milk to Pennsylvanians facing hunger since the program’s inception. Feeding Pennsylvania’s nine partner food banks help provide support to Pennsylvanians across all sixty-seven counties of the Commonwealth experiencing food insecurity.
The funds announced today will launch this year’s campaign with sponsorships totaling $181,500 (sponsors listed below). These funds include generous $25,000 gifts from Fill a Glass with Hope’s 2025 Supreme Champion Sponsors: Columbia Gas and NiSource Foundation, Coterra Energy, the First Energy Foundation and Weis Markets. In addition, Weis Markets and partners donated $50,000 to Fill a Glass with Hope in recognition of National Dairy Month in June 2024, and the PA Dairy Princess and Promotion Services, Inc. (PDPPS) raised over $5,000 for the charitable cause throughout the year.
Charlie Batch, two-time Super Bowl Champion and Former NFL quarterback (Pittsburgh Steelers) said, “Providing fresh milk to food pantries is the important mission of Fill a Glass with Hope. On this tenth anniversary, I’m so proud of the program’s founders and today’s generous sponsors. Their support ensures that families, especially children, have the essential nutrients they need to fuel their days.”
Dave Smith, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, an original Fill A Glass with Hope partner, discussed what this milestone means to the charitable food system and how dairy farmers and other leaders are making hunger prevention a priority.
“With hunger at an all-time high and with families struggling to buy food while managing essential expenses, I am extremely proud of the impact our dairy farmers and partners make in helping Pennsylvanians put food on the table. Together, we are providing crucial nutritious fresh milk to Fill a Glass with Hope and Pennsylvanians who utilize food banks and pantries. We must continue to give back to assist families, especially hungry children across the state. I’m hopeful Farm Show attendees will join us to help us deliver nutritional dairy products such as milk to Pennsylvanians facing food insecurity by donating at our milkshake booths or online,” said PA Dairymen’s Executive Director Dave Smith.
Lolly Lesher, a Berks County dairy farmer and chair of the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, applauded the Fill A Glass with Hope leaders by adding, “The Fill a Glass with Hope campaign is very meaningful to dairy farmers who make it their life’s work to provide nutritious food for all people. When we started this initiative ten years ago, we knew there was a need. Distributing more than 41 million servings of milk since that time is a point of pride for Pennsylvania dairy farmers.”
After the milkshake toast, celebrity milkshake servers from the media greeted Farm Show visitors as they enjoyed farm-fresh foods and beverages offered during the 2025 show. Learn more and donate to Fill a Glass with Hope by visiting the PA Dairymen’s Association milkshake booths at the PA Farm Show and feedingpa.org/milk.
Supreme Champion Sponsors:
Columbia Gas and NiSource Foundation
Coterra Energy
First Energy Foundation
Weis Markets
Additional Fill A Glass with Hope 2025 Sponsors:
ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages, LLC. and Fairlife
Fulton Bank
Horizon Farm Credit
Land O’Lakes Foundation
Modjeski and Masters, Inc
NJM Insurance Group
PA Dairymen’s Association
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
PSECU
Swiss Premium Dairy
Turner Dairy Farms
Valley Grange #1360
HUNGER IN PENNSYLVANIA:
One in six children in Pennsylvania face hunger.
One in eight adults in Pennsylvania face hunger.
Over 1.5 million people in Pennsylvania identify as food insecure.
Milk is one of the most requested items at food banks and pantries across the state.
About Feeding Pennsylvania
Feeding Pennsylvania is the state association of nine Feeding America-affiliated food banks serving all sixty-seven counties of the Commonwealth. Each year, our member food banks distribute over 237 million pounds of food to 1.5 million people through a network of more than 2,750 agencies and feeding programs. Feeding Pennsylvania’s mission is to aid in securing food and other resources for member food banks and to elevate a united voice to address hunger and food insecurity across the state. For more information about Feeding Pennsylvania, please visit feedingpa.org.
About Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association
The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association is the oldest dairy group in Pennsylvania. The Dairymen’s Milkshake is the top-selling, sought-after “PA Preferred Product” at the Food Court. The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association has been promoting Fill a Glass with Hope with agriculture partners, Feeding PA, the American Dairy Association North East, the PA Dairy Promotion Program, corporate partners and food banks since 2015. Over the past nine years, the Association has donated over $4.5 million to dairy youth development and education programs, securing a bright future for Pennsylvania’s dairy industry. The Association also supports the PA Dairy Princess Program, The Calving Corner, the PA Farm Bureau’s mobile education lab for schools, consumer dairy programs, classroom education, scholarships and more. For more information, visit padairymens.com.
About American Dairy Association North East (ADANE)
American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) is the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council® and the regional consolidation of three promotion organizations including the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program. Committed to nutrition education and research-based communications, ADANE provides science-based nutrition information to, and in collaboration with, a variety of stakeholders committed to fostering a healthier nation, including health professionals, educators, school nutrition directors, academia, industry, consumers and media. Funded by dairy checkoff dollars from more than 8,300 dairy farm families in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and northern Virginia, ADANE works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™ to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the North East region. For more information, visit AmericanDairy.com.
About Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program (PDPP)
Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program is the farmer-directed organization funded by participating dairy farmers to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout Pennsylvania. Managed by American Dairy Association North East, Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organizations also conduct consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council. For more information, visit americandairy.com/pennsylvania-dairy-promotion-program or call 315.472.9143.
SOURCE American Dairy Association North East
