On the Road ...

Back to our travels...

The long drive to San Antonio went very well. After a great dinner on the San Antonio Riverwalk,  we loaded the Pass The Bread truck at our San Antonio bakery for our event with the San Antonio Food Bank. Food bank Executive Director Eric Cooper and Food Resource Coordinator Noelle Butler really know how to host an event. Their state-of-the art facility is beautiful and spotless. They set up a stage, podium, sound system and even had about 50 chairs for an audience. The Mrs Baird's Toaster Car made an appearance at the food bank and was parked right next to the stage inside the warehouse.

Noelle Butler, San Antonio Food Bank Food Resource Coordinator; Ellen Quiros, Mrs Baird's Brand Manger; Mike Shelton, Mrs Baird's Director of Sales

We had a great turnout from the San Antonio media (who also took a fascination with the Toaster Car). Once we unloaded the fresh Mrs Baird's bread, the food bank's Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) quickly staked claim to the bread. This program provides nutritional meals and snacks to low-income children during the summer months when school is out. They say the 50,000 loaves of Mrs Baird's bread they'll get this summer will make thousands of sandwiches and toast for San Antonio kids. This is what Pass The Bread is all about! After two weeks of being on the road, the Pass The Bread caravan will return to our home base in Dallas for a much deserved two-week break. During this time, we'll regroup, get caught up at the office, and head back out again in June….stay tuned!

El Paso, West Texas Food Bank, May 19, 2008

We met our first summer heat wave of the Pass The Bread tour in El Paso as temperatures topped 100 degrees. But as they say in the Sun City, "It's a dry heat!" Not only are the weather and local chile hot, the people in El Paso are so friendly. And Siria Rocha, Girda Green and all the staff at the West Texas Food Bank's El Paso branch are no exception, helping us every way they can. The day of the Pass The Bread event, the food bank was also hosting a board of directors meeting/lunch. With all of this activity, they were still gracious enough to help us hand out 3,000 loaves of Mrs Baird's bread. At 11:00 am, food bank agencies were on hand to begin taking bread. Even a few individuals heard about Pass The Bread and came to the food bank to see if they could get a loaf of bread.

Shane Sumrow, Mrs Baird's Public Relations; Siria Rocha, West Texas Food Bank Director of Marketing; David Urrutia, West Texas Food Bank Food Resource Coordinator; Alfonso Flores, Mrs Baird's District Sales Manager; Martha Vargas, West Texas Food Bank Agency Relations Coordinator; Rudy Muniz, Mrs Baird's Local Sales Manager

Even though the food bank only distributes to pre-qualified non-profit agencies, these individuals were not turned away. We hope to get a good night's sleep tonight as tomorrow we'll be making the day-long 550+ mile drive to San Antonio. One final thought….if you're ever in El Paso and visit a local Mexican food restaurant, just be prepared to answer the question, "Red or Green (referring to the type of chile on your plate)?"

Odessa, West Texas Food Bank, May 16, 2008

The West Texas Food Bank serves the largest area of any food bank we'll visit. They serve 22 counties covering approximately 45,000 square miles. With a service area this large, Mrs Baird's bread will reach many rural Texans who do not have access to local grocery stores. Executive Director Hyta Folsom and  Operations Specialist Elizabeth Wallace and all of the others at the Odessa-based food bank, hosted the Pass The Bread caravan with open arms.

Mrs Baird’s reps pass the bread to food bank agencies Left to right: Joe and Mary Ortiz, Martin County Community Fund (Stanton, TX); Roger Poe, Mrs Baird’s Regional Sales Manager; “Rusty” Russell, Mrs Baird’s District Sales Manager; Arlene Jefferson, Promise Land Ministries (Odessa, TX); Bertha Sanchez, Philadelphia Assembly of God (Andrews, TX)

When we arrived a day early, agencies were asking if they could go ahead and take some bread. No problem. We unloaded about 1,000 loaves of bread, and by the next morning, almost all of the bread was on its way to feeding the hungry in the Permian Basin. The media event in Odessa was also a success. Every television station came out along with the Odessa American and news radio KRCS. Even though the food bank is based in Odessa, they also have distribution centers in El Paso and Alpine. So in order to eliminate one delivery out west for the food bank, we'll visit the West Texas Food Bank in El Paso on Monday.

San Angelo, Concho Valley Regional Food Bank, May 14, 2008

Kirk High, Regional Sales Manager Gregory Duke, Concho Valley Regional Food Bank Executive Director

Dallas, North Texas Food Bank, May 6, 2008

What makes the Pass The Bread program unique is the fact that Mrs Baird's is donating fresh bread to food banks in the areas we serve. How fresh? The Pass The Bread caravan ran a little late to the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas due to an early morning rain storm at our Fort Worth Bakery. We had to wait until the storm past in order to load the bread right out of the oven. When we arrived at the food bank, we hurried to set up for our 10:00am press event. We made it just in the nick of time. Every DFW television station was represented as we dedicated a total of 50,000 loaves of bread to the North Texas Food Bank. This is the largest single donation in the Pass The Bread program and in the history of Mrs Baird's. By 11:00am, the bread was out-the-door, into the vans and trucks of the food bank's agencies. By this time, the Mrs Baird's bread was only about 3 hours old and on its way to the hungry in North Texas…..now that's fresh! The folks at the North Texas Food Bank also deserve a note of gratitude. Paul Wunderlich, Amanda O'Neil, William Daniels, and all of the others who helped with the Pass The Bread program are dedicated to the cause of feeding the hungry in our communities. Pictured here: Paul Wunderlich, COO; Ellen Quiros, Mrs Baird's Brand Manager, Rick Brashear District Sales Manager, Randy Maberry Regional Sales Manager

Shreveport, Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, April 29, 2008

Our only stop in Louisiana took us just across the state line into Shreveport. Robert Wagner and Amie Roberts at the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana organized a tremendous event when the Pass The Bread truck delivered their first delivery of 3,000 loaves. Every Shreveport television station, the Shreveport newspaper and a talk radio station came out to do a story about Pass The Bread. In fact, we had to begin unloading the Pass The Bread truck before the media arrived in order to fill the demand from the food bank's agencies. Fresh bread is such a rarity at food banks. It's really touching to see how something as simple as a loaf of bread can make one's day. We have scheduled additional deliveries of bread to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana for a total donation of 10,000 loaves of fresh bread. Thank you to the many kind people of Shreveport for making us feel welcome. Pictured here: Tim Womack, Regional Sales Manager; Tony Roberts, District Sales Manager, Michael Wagner, Exec. Dir.; Amie Roberts, Dir. of Development & Volunteerism

Tyler, East Texas Food Bank, April 24, 2008

Our first road trip of the Pass The Bread tour took us 2 hours east of Fort Worth to Tyler, Texas. Robert Bush, Karolyn Davis, Rosemary McClain and the many others at the food bank gave us a gracious welcome. Following a brief press conference attended by every Tyler television station and the Tyler Morning Telegraph, we unloaded the Pass The Bread delivery truck with the first of 20,000 loaves of fresh Mrs Baird's bread. One of the stories in the news that day was the high price of rice and how some retailers are limiting the amount individuals can purchase. When asked about how the food bank is keeping up the inventory of their grain based products due to cost increases, food bank director Robert Bush simple stated, "We now have bread. This donation couldn't have come at a better time." After seeing the reaction from the food bank and their agencies, we really are beginning to see the impact Pass The Bread is having in our communities. One food bank agency representative told us how excited they are to be able to provide toast every day. Sometimes it's the simplest things (like bread) that make peoples' day. Next week, we'll head into Louisiana to visit the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana in Shreveport. Pictured here: Rosemary McClain, Food Sourcing Director; Robert Bush, Exec. Dir.; Ellen Quiros, Mrs Baird's Brand Manager, Chuck Pettijohn, District Sales Manager, Tim Womack, Regional Sales Manager

Fort Worth, Tarrant Area Food Bank, April 22, 2008

After months of planning, we launched the Mrs Baird's Pass The Bread program where the company began 100 years ago in Fort Worth. We kicked off the program at the Tarrant Area Food Bank with the initial delivery of 30,000 loaves of fresh Mrs Baird's bread. We delivered the bread around 9:00am. By noon, every loaf was en route to those in need in the 13 counties serviced by the Tarrant Area Food Bank. The Mrs Baird's Ultimate Grill was also on hand to provide lunch to donors of the food bank at their annual "Let's Get Together to End Hunger" luncheon. Another big hit—the Mrs Baird's Toaster Car and the Pass The Bread delivery truck. We'd like to thank Susan Frye and all of the wonderful people at the Tarrant Area Food Bank for helping make our kick off event a success. Now that we are off to a terrific start to the Pass The Bread program, we're now looking forward to hitting the road. Over the next three months, we'll travel approximately 9,000 miles visiting 25 food banks in five states. Next up—Tyler and the East Texas Food Bank. Pictured here: Ellen Quiros, Mrs Baird's Brand Manager, presents the first "Pass The Bread" loaf to Bo Soderbergh, Exec. Dir. of the Tarrant Area Food Bank. In the background is Jerry Martin Director of Sales, Jack Miller, District Sales Manager, and Barbara Anderson, Exec. Dir. of the Texas Food Bank Network.

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