INDIANAPOLIS — Earlier this week, an Indiana Pacers Foundation food insecurity initiative, Drive & Dish, announced a new partnership with Kroger, MPS Egg Farms and HATCH for Hunger to deliver more than 100,000 eggs to residents in need across Indiana.
For every 3-pointer the Pacers make during home games for the remainder of the NBA season, the partners will donate three cases of eggs, each containing 540 eggs, the Pacers Foundation explained in a release. The partnership officially began on Monday, Feb. 2, with the Pacers home game against the Houston Rockets.
In total, it is expected that the initiative will provide nearly 100,000 eggs to families in need.
“We’re really excited about this new Drive & Dish partnership and what it means for families across Indiana,” Corey Wilson, Pacers Sports & Entertainment senior vice president of community engagement, said. “This initiative will help feed thousands of Hoosiers, and that’s a powerful way we can make an impact beyond the game. Drive & Dish continues to show how basketball can bring people together to support those who need it most.”
Drive & Dish is a food insecurity initiative led by the Pacers Foundation and Indiana Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle to provide dignified access to nutritious food for Indiana families, the foundation added. Kroger has been an established community partner for years and has supported the Drive & Dish initiative through numerous donations and hunger-relief efforts.
This new partnership is just one more aspect of the company’s dedication to community support.
“We’re so excited to add Drive & Dish to our partnership with the Pacers,” Colleen Juergensen, Kroger division president, said. “Coach Carlisle created an awesome way to help struggling families put nutritious food on the table. Now, with MPS Eggs and HATCH, Kroger will help the Coach put more essential protein into the meals the families prepare. It’s a wonderful new way for us to expand Kroger’s hunger relief service in central Indiana.”
The other egg supplier for this initiative, MPS Eggs, a 6th generation, Indiana-based company, known as a leader in sustainable, conventional, cage-egg and carbon-neutral egg production, the foundation stated.
“MPS Egg Farms is grateful to be part of this effort with the Pacers, Kroger and HATCH for Hunger,” Sam Krouse, MPS CEO, said. “By donating three cases of eggs for every three-pointer the rest of the season, this will mean thousands of nutritious eggs going directly to families facing hunger—turning on-court success into real impact across our communities.”
Handling the actual distribution of the eggs is HATCH for Hunger, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting protein producers and food banks to families in need. Before this partnership, HATCH was already supporting the initiative by supplying eggs and other proteins to families.
“This initiative reflects what’s possible when communities work together,” Daniel Leckie, HATCH for Hunger CEO, said. “Through collaboration across the food system, we’re able to move nutritious food, like eggs, directly into food banks and onto family tables. We’re grateful to stand alongside Coach Carlisle, the Pacers, Kroger, and MPS Egg Farms to support Drive & Dish.”
As of Feb. 6, more than 14,000 eggs have been donated as a result of this initiative. To track the egg donation and learn more about Drive & Dish, visit https://pacersfoundation.org/initiatives/drive-dish/.
