Land O’Lakes, Colleges and Universities: Creating a Better Quality of Life in Africa
7/6/2009 12:00 AM

July 6, 2009 (Arden Hills, Minn.)  -- A new program introduced by Land O’Lakes, Inc., will allow colleges and universities to help create a better quality of life through the donation of a dairy cow to families in Africa. The program kicks off at the National Association of College & University Food show held this week in Milwaukee where more than 500 representatives from colleges & universities around the U.S. will be in attendance.  The program will run through the 2009-2010 school year, with cows being donated spring of 2010.

Land O’Lakes Foodservice will provide a donation toward the purchase of a cow on behalf of each participating college for every pound of foodservice item purchased. Each cow will provide enough sustainable income for a family to send their children to school, get healthcare, and meet their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.

“We are very excited about the potential impact of this program and the ability to tie into efforts already under way within the company,” said John Ellenberger, Land O’Lakes Foodservice marketing director. “In fact, the Land O’Lakes Foodservice team has already donated their own cow to a family living in the central region of Malawi through employee contributions that will arrive this July.”

The donations will be made to Prosperity Worldwide, a nonprofit organization that utilizes donor contributions to carry out activities that deliver financial resources and tools to enhance Land O’Lakes International Development initiatives in developing countries. Prosperity Worldwide is an independent, privately-funded vehicle through which the general public can contribute to the goal of international development.
 
Land O’Lakes International Development implements successful and sustainable projects, creates profitable businesses and drives economic growth worldwide, assisted by funding primarily from the U. S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Land O’Lakes, Inc. (www.landolakesinc.com) is a national, farmer-owned food and agricultural cooperative with annual sales of approximately $12 billion. Land O'Lakes is a Fortune 250 company which does business in all 50 states and more than 50 countries. It is a leading marketer of a full line of dairy-based consumer, foodservice and food ingredient products across the United States; serves its international customers with a variety of food and animal feed ingredients; and provides farmers and ranchers with an extensive line of agricultural supplies (feed, seed, and crop protection products) and services. Land O’Lakes also provides agricultural assistance and technical training in more than 25 developing nations.