At Columbia Distributing, we believe making the world a better place starts by helping out at home. While being a premier beverage distributor in Washington and Oregon may be our job, our passion is to give back to the communities we serve. Thanks to United Way’s Hands On Greater Portland volunteer program, Columbia Distributing is pleased to continue its charitable work and stay true to its vision and values.
As part of Community Impact Week, Jason Beam, Director of Sales at Columbia Distributing, and members of his team based in Wilsonville, OR, volunteered their time at The Kindness Farm. This nonprofit farm has a mission to cultivate equitable access to healthy produce, provide education on growing food, care for land using regenerative agriculture, and foster a vibrant community. Here, we discuss the impacts our employees made at The Kindness Farm.
Work at The Kindness Farm
The Kindness Farm is run by a founder, staff members, and participants from diverse backgrounds. It focuses on working with demographic groups who have been historically overlooked in getting the resources they need. In just two years, The Kindness Farm has donated healthy produce for over 36,500 meals and 720 produce boxes that served 9,266 people. In addition, The Kindness Farm has taught over 920 children, teens, adults, and seniors how to grow their own food using regenerative methods.
This type of work is no short order. The Kindness Farm happily accepts help from volunteers, like Beam and his team. “We were really focused on end-of-season tasks,” says Beam. “A lot of it was labor intensive, pruning plants down to the ground, weeding, and getting everything ready in preparation for any winter planting they’ll be doing.”
The time spent at The Kindness Farm left a lasting impression on Beam and his team. “I can tell you from my team’s perspective, we had a great day. Not knowing exactly what to expect when we got there, we showed up in work clothes and ready to go.” He adds, “We learned a lot about how they operate and how many people they’ve been able to provide for in the last year. It really was meaningful work for our team.”
Why We Give Back
A strong sense of community is deeply rooted in our DNA at Columbia Distributing. Every Columbia Distrusting employee is given time that they can use to help others and give back to their community. “We’ve always been about giving back,” says Beam. “For us, there’s not a better way. It was all about being able to help people who have hunger issues and aren’t able to provide for themselves. Six, seven, hours for us to spend out there digging around in the dirt just made a lot of sense.”
Along with helping others in our community and giving back, Columbia Distributing uses charitable work as an opportunity to grow as a company. Beam explains, “It’s a great team-building exercise for us. It gives us an opportunity to get together and spend time together not only helping other people but to get to know each other a little more outside of the walls of the business.”
More Charitable Work Going Forward
Staying true to our roots, Columbia Distributing plans to continue its charitable mission by standing behind several important causes and organizations. The impact that The Kindness Farm had on Beam and his team will not soon be forgotten. “Going forward, I think that’s definitely something that’s on our radar, to get back and help those folks again,” he says. “We look forward to seeing their project grow.”
To learn more about The Kindness Farm and its mission, or to hear more about other charitable causes we’ve helped out, contact us today at Columbia Distributing.