contribute this year to help support the Children’s Lunchbox,” said GCI Executive Vice President and COO Greg Chapados.
Using social media and earned news media coverage, Kaladi and its partners appealed for the community to support the giving tradition and the Children’s Lunchbox by simply performing a task that many people do on a daily basis – drink coffee. The appeal was heard loud and clear and resulted in an increase of 38 percent over last year in coffee drinking on New Year’s Day.
Indeed, New Year’s Day 2016 arrived with a bang for the Children’s Lunchbox. This year, the Children’s Lunchbox received $173,000 from Kaladi’s New Year’s Day Giving tradition. The award represents a 550 percent increase in the amount raised from last year. Kaladi Chief Marketing Officer Dale Tran said, “The Children’s Lunchbox was the recipient of Kaladi’s fundraiser this year because the staff at Kaladi recognizes that there are more than 21,000 kids in the community who are impacted by hunger. It’s really hard for kids to grow and learn when they worry about where their next meal is coming from.” Tran also said, “Even with the economic crisis, Alaskans’ hearts are bigger because they know the need is bigger; 21,000 hungry kids is a growing metric that can’t be ignored.”