Liberty Tire Recycling, a tire recycling and sustainability leader, has raised $87,805 for Blessings in a Backpack. This nonprofit organization supplies food to children who face food insecurity on weekends.
In 2023, 86.5% of U.S. households had access to enough food for an active, healthy life, while 13.5% experienced food insecurity at some point during the year, an increase from 12.8% in 2022. Among these, 5.1% of households faced very low food security, where members experienced reduced food intake due to limited resources, a rate unchanged from 2022.
While schools offer free meals during the week, many children lack access to nutritious food on weekends. Blessings in a Backpack steps in to fill this gap, providing backpacks filled with food to children in need so they don’t go hungry on the weekends.
This year, Liberty Tire Recycling’s support included hosting its first charity golf tournament at Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina. The event and other initiatives, like company-wide packing events, raised $87,805. Half of the funds will support Blessings in a Backpack’s strategic growth, while the other half funded six packing events at Liberty’s facilities across the U.S. These efforts resulted in the preparation of 5,250 bags of food for children in need.
Liberty’s employees played a crucial role in the fundraising campaign’s success. Volunteers from six locations, including Atlanta, Baytown, Columbus, Godfrey, Phoenix, and Santa Fe Springs, packed thousands of backpacks filled with food. In addition to packing, the company organized lunch-and-learn sessions, where employees wrote personal notes of encouragement to be included in the food bags. This hands-on approach helped employees feel directly connected to the cause.
Alexis Hartman, Manager of Corporate Partnerships at Blessings in a Backpack, emphasized the partnership’s impact: “Liberty’s efforts will have an immediate effect on so many kids in need of weekend nutrition.”
The fundraising initiative was driven by Liberty Cares, Liberty Tire Recycling’s employee committee focused on charitable events and community engagement. Launched in 2022, Liberty Cares aims to foster greater involvement in local communities, addressing issues like food insecurity, environmental sustainability, and family support during the holidays.
Liberty Tire Recycling’s CEO, Thomas Womble, noted, “We are proud to support Blessings in a Backpack, and I’m equally proud of the engagement from our employees. The funds raised will help ensure more children have access to meals on the weekends.”
This effort is part of Liberty’s larger goal to give back to the communities where it operates. In 2023 alone, Liberty organized 544 tire cleanup events, helping to remove waste and improve residents’ quality of life.
Blessings in a Backpack is a nonprofit that helps combat childhood hunger by providing food for children who may otherwise go hungry over the weekend. During the 2022-2023 school year, the organization provided over 3.3 million hunger-free weekends to more than 95,000 children across 44 states. For more information, visit blessingsinabackpack.org.
