State Farm collects thousands of jars of peanut butter for Richardson food pantries

Thousands of jars of peanut butters were collected by State Farm over a four-day drive in February that benefited three local food pantries.

In the event’s third year, State Farm outpaced its 2019 donation by more than 1,000 pounds, said Bre Clark, State Farm corporate responsibility manager. More than 8,400 pounds of peanut butter were donated to local nonprofit Network of Community Ministries as well as food pantries at The University of Texas at Dallas and Richland College.

The Comet Cupboard at UT Dallas is the first university food pantry established in Texas and aims to provides food and personal care items for students in need. During the 2018-2019 academic year, the cupboard served nearly 1,000 students, according to Director of Undergraduate Programs Hillary Beauchamp Campbell.

“We are so grateful for our friends at State Farm who are partnering with us to help our UT Dallas Comets,” Campbell said.

Thousands of students at Richland have reported that they have gone without food in order to pay for housing, books, gas, electricity, day care and medication, according to the community college’s website. Its on-campus food pantry aims to serve that population.

“The donation of peanut butter from State Farm is very helpful,” said Louise Rogers-Keim, administrative assistant in Richland’s Office of Student Life, in a statement. “Not only does it provide peanut butter for our pantry visitors, it also allows us to use our funds to purchase other needed food from the North Texas Food Bank.”

The peanut butter donations will reach approximately 38,000 people that benefit from Network, UT Dallas and Richland’s services, Clark said in a statement.