Texans account for 10% of Haiti Peanut Butter Donation

Texans have donated over $13,000 to the "Peanut Butter for Haiti" effort, accounting for 10 percent of the total cash donations of $126,000 used to buy peanut butter. 

The following information came to us from Early County 2055, which is coordinating the peanut industry's effort to donate peanut butter to Haitian earthquake victims:

In addition to the peanut butter and in-kind donations and discounts by J.M. Smucker, J.B. Sanfilippo, Ralcorp, ConAgra, Kroger, Unilever has donated a load of Skippy peanut butter so we will be shipping our seventh load early next week. (We are also shipping the peanut product boxes this week). Once Again Nut Butter has also announced a donation of product as well. That makes a total of seven semi loads of peanut butter and peanut products as outlined here:

Total peanut butter: 233,362 lbs

MFKH paste: 9,000 lbs

Peanut product boxes: 4,000 lbs

Total All Shipments: 246,362 lbs

Servings Shipped: 3,449,068

A total of $126,000 in cash donations has been collected,  all of which has been used to buy peanut butter. Peanut butter donations and discounts totaled $260,000. Donated transportation costs totaled $6,000

Total donations: cash, product, transportation, - $392,000

Early County 2055 will continue to take contributions through March 2010, which is National Peanut Month

Organizations can participate by sending tax deductible contributions to:

 EC 2055 - PB for Haiti, P.O. Box 725, Blakely, Ga 39823  

You can also mail your checks to the Texas Peanut Producers Board at 4205 N. I-27, Lubbock, Texas 79403. Be sure to put "PB for Haiti" in the memo line of your checks. Checks must be made out to Early County 2055. TPPB will pass along all checks we receive for the peanut butter donations to Early County 2055.

Haiti Peanut Butter Update: Dublin Middle School Makes Donation

DUBLIN, Texas - Students at Dublin Middle School held a small change fundraiser to benefit the Peanut Butter For Haiti project.

The school's sixth, seventh, and the eighth grade had a contest to see who could raise the most money. The three classes combined raised $863.00 for peanut butter. A local peanut farmer also promised to match the class who raised the most change.

With the matching check of $357 and the $863 raised by the Dublin Middle School, a total of $1220 was raised for the purchase of peanut butter to ship to the Haiti earthquake victims.

"Peanut Butter for Haiti" Recap and Update
The U.S. peanut industry is responding quickly to the crisis in Haiti resulting from the January 12th earthquake. The industry, as well as individuals and agricultural partners, have formed a coalition to show their concern and to offer their support by sending truckloads of peanut butter to the people of Haiti. Peanut butter is the perfect food since it does not have to be refrigerated, does not require cooking, and delivers a nutritional punch that is life-sustaining.


The project, Peanut Butter for Haiti, was initiated by Barton Rice, executive director of Early County 2055, a Blakely, Ga., non-profit organization, who stepped forward with the first financial pledge to deliver peanut butter to Haiti. The project expanded when Lisa Collins of Early County 2055, contacted several peanut organization leaders to obtain advice on the best way to purchase the peanut butter and have it shipped to Haiti. Golden Peanut Company, Birdsong Peanuts (who both have locations in Texas), the Texas Peanut Producers Board, and the Georgia Peanut Commission immediately met the pledge from Early County and the project took off.

Early Trucking and Southern Ag Carriers immediately offered to donate the transportation for the peanut butter. In less than three weeks, the project has raised $107,000 in cash donations, including over $13,000 in cash raised in Texas alone. The cash has been used to purchase peanut butter at cost, in addition to the approximately $200,000 worth of donated peanut butter. (The coalition has purchased peanut butter at cost from Kroger, ConAgra, and Ralcorp and has received peanut butter donated by The J.M. Smucker Company and John B Sanfilippo & Sons.)


Seven days after the earthquake, two truckloads of peanut butter (almost 75,000 lbs) were delivered to Norfolk, Va., and loaded on a military ship, the USS Sacagawea, bound for Haiti, and are being distributed on the ground by “Operation Blessing”, a charity based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Four days later, two more truckloads were delivered to Miami for transfer to Haiti by airfreight and barge through “Catholic Relief Services” and “Food for the Poor”.


A fifth load of peanut butter is now in Miami awaiting shipment aboard a Carnival Cruise ship for “Operation Blessing”. The sixth truckload was purchased when the coalition was contacted by “Feed the Children,” who urgently need peanut butter to distribute since their warehouse in Haiti was destroyed in the earthquake and all their supplies were lost. That load was shipped on February 8, 2010.


We will continue to raise funds for this project through the end of National Peanut Month (March 2010). Organizations can participate by sending tax deductible contributions to:

EC 2055 - PNB for Haiti
P.O. Box 725, Blakely, GA 39823

Make checks payable to: "Early County 2055" and note "PB for Haiti."

For more information, contact TPPB at (806) 687-6363.

Peanut Butter for Haiti article in Lubbock Avalance Journal

The Texas Peanut Producers Board is in the news again. The peanut industry came together following the earthquake in Haiti to raise money to purchase peanut butter to send to those in need.

So far, $94,000 has been raised and 170,000 pounds of peanut butter has been shipped to Haiti - that's nearly 2.5 million servings of yummy, high protein, high energy peanut butter. This morning's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ran a story about how TPPB has been involved with the effort. Through our office, we've been able to raise $12,000 to purchase peanut butter for the earthquake victims.

Read the article here. (It also mentions how you can help and lists my contact information.) Also, contrary to what the article says, this effort has nothing to do with the salmonella issue last year. The peanut butter donation effort stemmed out of Blakely, Ga., which happens to be the largest peanut producing area in the country...and also where the infamous salmonella factory was located. But, the factory is long gone, and the peanut industry in Blakely is trudging along and helping people in Haiti.
 

 
Meanwhile, charitable organizations like Operation Blessing, Food for the Poor, and Catholic Relief Services have helped get the peanut butter from the United States to Haiti. Because the port in Haiti was destroyed by the earthquake, the logistics of delivering products into the country became an issue. However, the peanut butter was able to arrive in the hands of the earthquake victims thanks to the Military Sealift Command vessel, which is equipped with a helicopter to hoist the peanut butter from the ship to the ground in Haiti.
 

 
To learn how you can help give peanut butter to earthquake victims in Haiti, send an email to lindsay@texaspeanutboard.com.

"Peanut Butter for Haiti" featured on Lubbock's KAMC 13

Watch this news feature from Lubbock's KAMC 13. The clip discusses how the town of Lamesa is helping with the Haiti earthquake relief effort.

Update on Haiti Peanut Butter Effort

As of January 25, Texans have donated $12,000 to the "Peanut Butter for Haiti" effort.

Following the devasting earthquake in Haiti, members of the country's peanut industry came together to raise money to help those in need. The money raised has been used to purchase peanut butter to ship to the Haitian earthquake victims. Peanut butter makes the perfect food item for donation, because it is high in protein, high in energy, does not require water, and is good for 18 months without the need of refrigeration.

Community and business members of Lamesa, Texas contributed $9,350 to the cause thanks to the fundraising efforts of Sharon Cox and Gloria Gonzales of The Fertilizer Place.

Over $84,000 in cash donations has been pledged for the purchase of peanut butter for Haitians. In addition, some peanut manufacturers have donated peanut butter, while others are selling their products at cost to "Peanut Butter for Haiti" to help with the effort. Overall, $254,000 worth of peanut butter has been shipped or is en route to Haiti.

To make a donation for the purchasing of peanut butter, please mail a check made out to “Early County 2055” to the Texas Peanut Producers Board at 4205 N. Interstate 27, Lubbock, Texas 79403. Please not “pnb for Haiti” on the check. Early County 2055 will send receipts to all donors, and all donations are tax-deductible.

Please re-visit this blog for more updates on how you can help with "Peanut Butter for Haiti".

Peanut industry raising peanut butter donations for Haitian earthquake victims

LUBBOCK, Texas –The Texas Peanut Producers Board and several other organizations in the peanut industry are joining efforts to ship peanut butter to the desperate earthquake victims in Haiti.
“Peanut Butter for Haiti” began last Friday when an offer to spearhead the effort came from Early County 2055, a 501c3 non-profit organization located in the heart of peanut country in Blakely, Ga.

Early County 2055 has donated $5,000 to the cause, which was quickly matched by Birdsong Peanuts, a Virginia-based peanut shelling company that also has locations in Blakely, Ga., Brownfield, Texas, and Alabama. Currently, over $60,000 has been raised for the purchase of peanut butter to supply the Haitian earthquake victims.
“The peanut industry is trying to raise enough cash donations to purchase three truckloads (126,000 pounds) of peanut butter to send to Haiti,” said Shelly Nutt, Texas Peanut Producers Board executive director. “This is a well-organized and trustworthy effort from an industry that is no stranger to helping those in need.”
In West Texas, Lamesa community members raised $3,500 from local businesses and individuals to donate to the peanut butter purchase in just one day. They hope to double that figure before the end of the week.
“Peanut Butter for Haiti” has already delivered its first truckload of peanut butter to “Food for the Poor”, a four-star rated charity that is consolidating food and water at their warehouse near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to send to their ground operations in Haiti. The peanut butter effort has also been working with other reputable charities to ensure all peanut butter donations are placed in the hands of Haitians.
Check donations can be mailed to the Texas Peanut Producers Board office at 4205 N. Interstate 27, Lubbock, Texas 79403. Checks must be made out to “Early County 2055” in order for the donation to be converted into peanut butter. Please designate "pnb to Haiti" in lower left hand corner of your check. All donations are tax-deductible, and all donors will receive a receipt from Early County 2055.
“This is an easy and secure way for Texans to help the people of Haiti by providing them with a nutritious, non-perishable food item that is high in protein,” Nutt said. “I’m so proud to work in an industry that is always so willing to help others who are in need, especially when we’re producing a product that these people so desperately need.”
For more information, contact the Texas Peanut Producers Board at 800-734-0086 .
The Texas Peanut Producers Board is a state-wide board funded by a $2 per ton voluntary check-off program. For more information, contact Lindsay West Kennedy, TPPB communications director, at lindsay@texaspeanutboard.com or call 1-800-734-0086.

Latest Texas Peanut Crop Information

Texas peanut production was estimated at 542.5 million pounds, down 35 percent from 2008. Statewide yield, at 3,500 pounds per acre, was 200 pounds more than 2008.

*Released Jan. 12 by the USDA and National Agricultural Statistics Service

PEANUT PRICES - Peanut Marketing News
*Released January 15, 2010

Peanut prices received by farmers for all farmer stock peanuts averaged 19.8 cents per pound ($396 per ton) for the week ending January 9, 2010. The price per pound decreased 1.9 cents from the previous week. Marketings of all farmer stock peanuts for the week ending January 9 totaled 37.8 million pounds, UP 22.8 million pounds from the previous week. The average price of Runner type peanuts was 19.5 cents per pound ($390 per ton) for the week ending January 9. Marketings of Runner type peanuts were 33.7 million pounds.