Company sponsors food drive

Express Employment Professionals, a staffing company serving the Waseca area with offices in Owatonna, is operating a food drive through March 6 to benefit the Waseca County food shelf. Curt Wigham, owner, explained that Express is sponsoring these food drives in every community the business serves, but that all food will be donated to food shelves in the local community where it was contributed. Ryan Miller, business development manager for Express Employment Professionals and New Richland resident, co-organized the food drive alongside Abby Wigham, operations manager. Miller is also serving as the “boots on the ground” for the drive, delivering flyers to participating businesses and retrieving donations.

“We were inspired by other Express offices doing great things in their communities, so we wanted to emulate that,” Miller explained. “As the Business Development Manager, I am in 100+ local businesses on a weekly basis. With that kind of reach, organizing donation drives was where we could have the most impact. We started with a winter gear drive in December and had some good success. Following that campaign, I realized I want to root our business in community service and giving back. The food drive specifically spawned out of the thought that while the holidays are a big time of year for food donations, maybe by February it slips people's mind and donations would be down.”

As Miller began his work with the food drive, he started at the food shelf to find out what non-perishable items were most useful. Employees there identified peanut butter, canned meats, and soups as some of the best food items to donate. He then connected with Ann Fitch, executive director at the Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce, to promote the drive before going door-to-door at local businesses to find partners.

Since beginning in early February, the food drive has already seen some success. However, there is still time to make a bigger impact. Anyone who wishes to support the ongoing drive can donate non-perishable, non-expired goods at the Waseca Chamber of Commerce, Waseca County Food Shelf, or participating businesses. Those nineteen local businesses are listed on the Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce website.

“Going forward we will be doing a quarterly "Express Gives Back" campaign, so keep an eye out for what we do next,” Miller added. Any businesses that wish to partner with future Express Gives Back donation drives can contact Miller at Ryan.Miller@ExpressPros.com to get involved.