Unilever, The Dale Jr. Foundation Donate to Help FeedNC
Create Special Garden in Honor of Brenda Jackson
Yesterday on Unilever’s National Day of Service, the Earnhardt family and The Dale Jr. Foundation combined with longtime partner Unilever to help establish Mimi’s Garden in honor of Brenda Jackson, mother of both Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who passed away in 2019 following a battle with cancer. As part of the effort, a $300,000 donation to FeedNC, a food-focused resource that seeks to end the cycle of hunger and poverty with extensive programs and opportunities for those in need, was made earlier today by Earnhardt Jr. and wife Amy.
Mimi’s Garden will be created as part of FeedNC’s expansion to a new location in Mooresville, not far from the JR Motorsports facility. The non-profit organization, which provides meals and food supplies to those who would otherwise go hungry, has outgrown its current location. A new 26,775-square-foot facility will be built on an 8.54-acre site and will include space for classrooms, parking, an in-house event space and a café, as well as other amenities. Mimi’s Garden, named for the matriarch of the Earnhardt family, will be included at the site.
“The opportunity to support FeedNC with this donation, alongside Unilever and The Dale Jr. Foundation is special to our family,” said Earnhardt Miller. “The garden we’re establishing in Brenda’s honor would mean a lot to her and is a great way to extend our mother’s legacy.
“FeedNC is a needed resource for many people, and being able to support them in their mission makes a big difference. We’re proud to join with Unilever on its National Day of Service to provide hope for the future.”
In addition to contributions from Earnhardt Jr. and wife Amy, Earnhardt Miller and husband L.W. Miller and Jackson’s husband Willie, Unilever will donate as part of its National Day of Service. The Dale Jr. Foundation has made a contribution as well.
The National Day of Service will also see Unilever sharing joy at select vaccination sites around the country by delivering summer treats like Klondike Bars and Popsicles to newly vaccinated people, site workers and volunteers at selected sites in New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Memphis, Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix. The event is the second annual National Day of Service from Unilever, a national volunteering effort designed to give back to communities most impacted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with its 2020 National Day of Service, the company will donate $25 million in goods and services towards relief to bring the total donation over the two years to $50 million.
“Our second annual Day of Service is an opportunity for Unilever U.S. to use its size and scale as a catalyst to do good,” said Terry Thomas, EVP Customer Development US at Unilever. “There is still so much to be done to help people still feeling the impacts of the pandemic, and we are grateful to our partners like JR Motorsports and the Earnhardts that are making an impact alongside us and showing the country that together we can do so much good.”
For more information about FeedNC or to learn about volunteering or how to make a donation, please visit www.feednc.org.
ABOUT UNILEVER UNITED STATES:
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. We have 149,000 employees and generated sales of €50.7 billion in 2020. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes iconic brand such as: Dove, Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Magnum, Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Q-tips, St. Ives, Suave, TRESemmé, and Vaseline.
Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world’s first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it’s at the heart of how we run our company today.
The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:
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• improving the health of the planet;
- • improving people’s health, confidence and wellbeing;
- • contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.
While there is still more to do, we are proud to have been recognized in 2020 as a sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and – for the tenth-consecutive year – as the top-ranked company in the 2020 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Leaders survey. For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com
ABOUT THE DALE JR FOUNDATION:
zThe Dale Jr. Foundation is a charity dedicated to giving underprivileged individuals with a focus on youth, the resources to improve their confidence and education, and the opportunity to achieve extraordinary goals, having raised more than $10 million since its inception. The Dale Jr. Foundation has made a monumental impact in the local community since its beginning. Dedicated to giving underprivileged individuals, with a focus on youth, the resources to achieve extraordinary goals, TDJF has contributed to more than 300 charities nationally and locally, including The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Blessings in a Backpack, Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, FeedNC, and Mooresville Christian Mission. For more information, visit www.thedalejrfoundation.org.
