C&N’s Giving Back, Giving Together program has raised $129,129, which will provide more than 775,000 meals to the community through its partnership with area food banks.

In addition to the monetary donations, C&N employees collected 3,012 necessity items and volunteered 290 hours at local food banks.

In April 2020, C&N teams partnered with 17 local food banks, as the pandemic was causing millions of people to suddenly be out of work and rely on food banks for their next meal. Amidst the pandemic, food banks were receiving fewer donations, the supply of many necessities was constrained, and volunteers, many of whom are seniors, were hesitant.

At that time, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank reached out to C&N to ask for help to meet the increased demand. C&N’s board of directors approved a $40,000 donation to help with immediate needs, but also started exploring other options to help the food banks and community members while remaining compliant with the stay-at-home order.

C&N began collecting monetary donations through a variety of online platforms, selling t-shirts and hosting different raffles. When the shutdown orders were lifted, teams began hosting on-site fundraisers, collecting food items, and getting out to the food banks to lend a hand. In addition to these efforts, C&N also hosted a scaled-down version of its annual Charity Classic golf tournament.

Area food banks and their C&N partners include:

• Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (Lycoming County & Wellsboro admin teams)  
• CHOP (East Smithfield, Towanda & Monroeton teams)  
• Emporium Food Pantry (Emporium team)  
• Feed My Sheep (Athens team)  
• God’s Food Pantry (Coudersport team)  
• Hornell Turning Point (Hornell, N.Y. & Canisteo, N.Y. team)  
• Lawrenceville Food Pantry (Tioga team)  
• Liberty Area Food Bank (Liberty team)  
• Mansfield Area Food Pantry (Mansfield team)  
• Port Allegany Community Services Food Pantry (Port Allegany team)  
• Salvation Army (Sayre team)  
• Snack ‘n Sack (Troy team)  
• Sullivan County Food Pantry (Dushore & Laporte teams) 
• Tioga Community Food Bank (Tioga team)  
• Towanda Area Christian Outreach Food Pantry (Wysox team) 
• Veterans serving Veterans (Knoxville & Elkland teams)  
• Wellsboro Area Food Bank (Wellsboro & Care Center teams)  
• Wrightstown Food Cupboard (Doylestown, Newtown & Paoli teams)

“The success of GBGT is a direct reflection of the passion and commitment of our teammates to their communities,” said Caitlin Hilliard, C&N Marketing Specialist. “We also thank our customers, community members, and business partners for sharing in our passion to give back to the communities we serve.”

In June 2021, C&N team members turned their focus to support local underprivileged youth, ensuring they have access to food, clothing, and shelter. This is another demographic that was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The closing of schools combined with the high cost of childcare forced many parents to give up their jobs and income to care for their kids. This also increased food insecurity by reducing children’s access to free or reduced lunches at school.

If you would like to join C&N in supporting this cause:

• Donate now
• Connect with C&N during its quarterly event weeks
• Share & Like C&N’s #GivingBackGivingTogether Facebook posts (C&N donates $1 for every like and share to libraries)
• Spread the word

C&N’s Giving Back, Giving Together program was formed by employees in 2015 as a way to do more to support their communities. In the years since GBGT started, C&N employees have raised $465,306 in monetary donations, collected 30,241 item donations, and volunteered 1,139 hours.

Learn more about C&N.