The AGCO Agriculture Foundation (AAF) announced a $100,000 donation to the World Food Program USA (WFPUSA). The donation will support the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) emergency relief efforts to provide food assistance for families affected by the conflict inside Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Farmers, farming communities, homes, and economies have all been badly impacted by Ukraine’s ongoing crisis. In addition, people are fleeing their homes, families, farms, land, and businesses. Our thoughts and prayers are with our employees, families, and the people of Ukraine during this time of crisis.

“Watching the destruction of lives and lands due to the crisis in Ukraine is deeply troubling. Sustainably feeding the world is core to our purpose, and we are immediately concerned about the food security of the people caught in the Ukraine crisis. Through our community development and humanitarian focus, we are mobilizing an immediate donation to the U.N. World Food Programme’s emergency operation to provide food assistance to affected families in Ukraine and its borders.”

said Roger N. Batkin, Board Chair, AGCO Agriculture Foundation.

The U.N. World Food Programme recently launched an emergency operation seeking $570M in emergency response to provide food assistance for civilians fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

AGCO Corporation and the AAF have opened a “ShareTheMeal” team campaign with the U.N. World Food Programme to achieve a 182,000 meal goal in three months as an extension of the total donation. As a result, AGCO employees and concerned stakeholders can donate as individuals or groups to support the ongoing emergency relief and food assistance in Ukraine. Fifty-five cents can provide one meal per day.

“Our first priority was protecting our Ukrainian employees and their families. Our collective concern then quickly shifted to actions we could take to support Ukraine. We are grateful to contribute to the U.N. World Food Programme and to offer our employees the opportunity to contribute to emergency food assistance for Ukraine through our ShareTheMeal team challenge.”

said Ivory Harris, Chief Human Resources Officer at AGCO.

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“In times of need, it is imperative our communities have access to healthy foods. Providing financial support to our local food banks helps connect the nutritious foods our customers grow to those trying to make ends meet,”

said Mark Littlefield, President, and CEO of Farm Credit West.

Every year, Farm Credit West prioritizes distributing funds to fight food insecurity through its robust charitable giving program. This year, seventeen food banks received a donation to support their local programs helping families impacted by illness, job loss, or loss of a home.

“Stewardship is at the core of Farm Credit West’s mission. Year after year, we keep a keen eye on the most vulnerable in our local communities and respond with financial assistance. Our Association and its Board of Directors recognize the direct impact these organizations have on our communities and dedicate our resources to help ensure no family goes hungry.”

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A longtime education supporter and STEM advocate, Doosan Bobcat provided the equipment as part of the manufacturer’s continued focus on community outreach. M State is also one of eight Doosan Bobcat training sites in the United States.

“Providing new manufacturing professionals with hands-on training opportunities is critical to foster the natural talents of these individuals and help them establish a solid learning foundation they can use throughout their careers,” “Through our continued partnership with educational institutions such as M State, we are helping build a future pipeline of skilled manufacturing professionals.”

said Laura Ness Owens, vice president of marketing, communication and public affairs at Doosan Bobcat North America.

The donated equipment includes a 2005 Toolcat utility work machine, a 2013 T630 compact track loader and a 2015 T630 compact track loader, as well as a variety of parts that can be used for training modules. Donating equipment for these programs helps allow critical instruction for service technicians and students on troubleshooting, servicing, operating, repairing and maintenance for all machine components.

“We are thankful for the continued generosity and our strong, long-term partnership with Doosan Bobcat,”

said Jim Bainer, instructor and faculty member at M State’s Diesel Equipment Technology program.

“Our college has benefited greatly from the equipment, supplies and monetary donations from Doosan Bobcat; including the talent of the company’s dedicated employee volunteers and Mike Fitzgerald, qualitative customer insights specialist, who serves in an advisory support role for the program.”

Over the last 15 years, Doosan Bobcat has contributed over $620,000 in equipment, pledge amounts and supplies to the college. The company also provides three $1,000 annual scholarships to students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and math programs. Additionally, they provide a $2,000 annual classroom investment for technology updates for a total commitment of $50,000 over the next seven years

“Thanks to Doosan Bobcat, our students have access to top-of-the-line industry resources, expertise and training, preparing them for success in a globally-connected workforce,”

said Karen Reilly, associate dean of marketing and outreach at M State.

“In addition, these donations serve as a prime recruiting tool for us; when prospective students see our wide variety of Doosan Bobcat equipment, they know they will get hands-on experiences that will equip them in their careers.”

Doosan Bobcat was honored with the Business and Industry Award through a nomination by M State in 2017 for their contributions to the college’s Diesel Equipment Technology program and commitment to future support.

Ness Owens continued,

“We recognize the diesel technology program as an outstanding training ground for students, and we take great pride in this partnership at Doosan Bobcat.”

Source: Doosan Bobcat

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AGCO Agriculture Foundation (AAF), a private foundation based in Liechtenstein committed to ending hunger through sustainable agricultural development, has donated US$90,000 to three non-profit organizations to address hunger and poverty in communities worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donations spread across the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Spain, will be used to purchase and distribute emergency food and household items for vulnerable households in communities where AGCO’s customers, dealers, suppliers, and employees live and work. The donations are part of the second phase of the AAF COVID-19 Aid Program, which supports emergency responses globally in communities where AGCO’s customers, dealers, suppliers, and employees live and work, including in the EME region.

During the first phase of the aid program, the AAF supported the emergency response by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), with a funding amount of US$100,000 concentrated on the most vulnerable populations in countries in Latin America and Africa. Please visit the World Food Program USA’s donation page to support the AAF’s funding campaign or visit the SharetheMeal app and donate through the #AGCOAgricultureFoundation Team.

The AGCO Agriculture Foundation matches any contribution made to this campaign up to $100,000 to double its impact by raising additional funding to feed 342 children for a year and support WFP’s lifesaving work in 83 countries, which includes initiatives to support small-scale farmers and more.

said Metti Richenhagen, Managing Director, AGCO Agriculture Foundation:

“The AGCO Agriculture Foundation is committed to making long-term impacts in our most vulnerable communities as the presence of COVID-19 calls for ongoing support. We are proud to provide not only global but also local funding to support resources and initiatives that help communities in our EME region that are heavily impacted by the pandemic and economic uncertainty.”

The respective non-profit organizations are committed to utilizing the donation to provide emergency responses and drive impacts on their communities.

Trussell Trust will direct the donation to the food bank program in the UK to provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty and crisis and campaign for change to end hunger in the UK. The funds will be used to support the development of emergency storage and distribution systems to ensure that donated bulk supplies are rapidly delivered to individual food banks. The foodbanks distributed more than 6,250 emergency food parcels every day at the onset of the pandemic, and 3,000 of the beneficiaries were children.

For World Food Program-Turkey, the donation will be used to provide a critical lifeline to vulnerable people in Turkey, mostly refugees. The funds will also be used to support the WFP Adaption of Livelihoods Project (“Kitchens of Hope”) under COVID-19 in eight provinces of Turkey – Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Urfa, Adana, Kilis, Mardin, and Gaziantep. Funds will cover for the purchase of food, raw materials, and other inputs to support municipal soup kitchens as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. The organization will provide up to two meals per day for over 4,000 people in eight cities.

Banco de Alimentos will use the donation to enable the food bank in Madrid to obtain food, transport, and distribute it to the neediest people in the region of Madrid, which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization is collecting whole foods from supermarkets and fruit and vegetables in the central market of Mercamadrid. In addition, the organization will facilitate social integration of the most disadvantaged community and education on food waste, healthy diet, and health safety. The organization is now delivering more than 190,000 meals per day, reaching most children.

“AGCO is always looking for the best way to support communities and customers in our regions. In such an unprecedented time like this, this support becomes a joint responsibility to address the impacts of the pandemic on economies and livelihood,”

said Torsten Dehner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AGCO EME.

“We firmly believe that a resilient agriculture industry is essential, and our top priority is maintaining access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food throughout the COVID-19 pandemic fight.”

AGCO donates personal protective equipment and medical supplies in the EME region

In Germany, Fendt, an AGCO brand, and its cabin factory in Asbach-Bäumenheim produced 3D-printed face shields and donated them to doctors, local aid organizations, county associations from the Bavarian Red Cross, and regional dentists. In addition, five Fendt face shields were sent to every dealer location in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and England to ensure the safety of AGCO dealers and their host communities.

In France, AGCO and Massey Ferguson are responding to the call of the specially created French non-profit organization “Les Visières de l’Espoir” – “Hope’s Face Shields” initiated by 3DNatives, a French specialized 3D printing media. In the Beauvais manufacturing facility, Massey Ferguson is now using its 3D printing capacity to donate full-face shields to its local community and frontline health workers who are heroes working hard to save lives from the coronavirus pandemic. The AGCO Beauvais team, together with its GIMA colleagues donated 10,000 surgical masks as well as gloves and overalls from its own stocks to the Beauvais Hospital to support the medical personnel.

In Italy, AGCO’s Gold Harvesting Competence Center in Breganze has contributed to the fundraising campaign Aiutiamo i nostri medici (Help our Doctors) with the full commitment of all the staff and workers’ unions, raising 20,000 €. The project was promoted by the Santorso Town Council to support the local hospital’s COVID-19 center for the whole province of Vicenza. In addition to buying essential items and equipment to increase the number of intensive care beds, some of the donations went towards alternative housing for health workers who did not want to put their families at risk by going home after their shifts.

Source: AGCO

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Source: New Holland Agriculture

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As a subsidiary of the Tetra Laval Group and part of the global donation, DeLaval has donated $49,050 to Heart to Heart International with a view to support the health care system/COVID-19 relief efforts in the Kansas City, MO area. The contribution will be used to support efforts in place on COVID-19 testing in the local area.

Heart to Heart International strengthens communities through improving health access, providing humanitarian development and administering crisis relief worldwide. The organization engages volunteers, collaborates with partners and deploys resources to achieve this mission, and is urgently distributing needed equipment and medications both locally and around the world in response to the current global crisis.

Source: Delaval

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Hitachi is a first major contributor to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 fund, a new program that will allow Kiva to fund the communities that have been hit hardest by this crisis. As repayments from these loans return to Hitachi’s account, they will fund new loans over a 4-year period, after which the balance will be a donation to Kiva.

Kiva is a global nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand financial access to underserved communities and the 1.7 billion people in the world who do not have access to financial services. Kiva facilitates loans to borrowers through their online crowdfunding platform, and to date 1.9 million people have funded over USD 1.44 billion in loans to 3.6 million borrowers in 77 countries. Hitachi has made a new contribution of USD 1 million to Hitachi’s Kiva fund to support small business operators affected by the spread of the COVID-19, in addition to the first contribution of USD 100,000 in 2017.

Specifically, Hitachi Group employees will have an opportunity to choose business owners affected by COVID-19, and make a loan of USD 25 from the Hitachi fund. Hitachi also hopes to engage their community in Kiva’s COVID-19 response through Hitachi‘s social media accounts. Individuals who make a loan on Kiva first, will receive an additional USD 25 credit on behalf of Hitachi, to lend to another borrower. Any remaining funds will be used to match loans made on the Kiva platform. By engaging employees and the community, Hitachi will provide financial support of USD 1 million in total to the small business operators all over the world.

Source: Hitachi

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“The urgency of hunger worldwide has become even more critical with the addition of the coronavirus, and we are directing our global support to the World Food Program USA in support of WFP’s COVID-19 relief efforts. Our funding will help monitor the impact of the pandemic, pre-position food and medical supplies in vulnerable communities in Africa and Latin America, as well as lend support to newly established supply chain coordination cells on the ground.”

says Lucinda Smith, Board Chairman, AGCO Agriculture Foundation.

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“The hunger crisis is growing quickly in the face of COVID-19. We are honored to partner with Feeding America to support their work to rapidly scale to meet the rising needs of our communities.”

said Rod Schrader, chairman and CEO of Komatsu’s North American operations.

The situation is changing rapidly, but Feeding America predicts its network of local food banks will need an additional $1.4 billion over the next six months to provide food assistance to people facing hunger—a 30% incremental increase to the nonprofit organization’s operating costs. The network of 200 food banks partner with more than 60,000 soup kitchens, food pantries, churches and other community organizations to deliver food, even in the midst of a global pandemic.

“Feeding America is grateful to Komatsu and its employees for their generous support of our neighbors who face hunger during these uncertain times. Their donation will help food banks serve communities hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

said Lauren Biedron, vice president of corporate partnerships at Feeding America.

Komatsu America Corp., Komatsu Mining Corp., Modular Mining and Hensley Industries – all North American subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Komatsu Ltd. – are joining together in the effort to support Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund. The business units are donating $150,000 and will provide a 2-for-1 match of employee donations up to $50,000.

The companies are dedicating an additional $100,000 to local organizations in the communities in which they operate throughout North America, to support specific charitable efforts and needs in the areas of medical supplies and support, food insecurity and community funds.

Source: Komatsu America Corp

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