FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 3, 2019 Contact: Rob Clark, Michigan Sugar Company, 989-686-0161

Through partnership with Great Lakes Loons, sugar donations to benefit Hidden Harvest

BAY CITY – Another season of Great Lakes Loons baseball has arrived and with it another year of Michigan Sugar Home Runs.

Each time the Loons go deep this season, Michigan Sugar Company will donate 25 pounds of sugar to Hidden Harvest, a nonprofit food rescue and hunger relief organization based in Saginaw. Hidden Harvest will make sure the sugar ends up at local food pantries and soup kitchens to help those less fortunate.

Michigan Sugar Company is a long-time partner of Hidden Harvest, having contributed more than 65,000 pounds of sugar to the organization over the past two decades. Last year’s Michigan Sugar Home Runs promotion – through which the company donated 10 pounds for each home run hit by the Loons – added another 1,000 pounds of sugar to the total.

“Hidden Harvest is so thankful for the contributions that Michigan Sugar has sent our way through the years,” said Samantha McKenzie, President and CEO of Hidden Harvest. “With the return of Michigan Sugar Home Runs, I was so excited to hear that the company is upping its game by donating even more sugar per home run this year. With their generosity and a strong team – Go Loons! – this year’s Michigan Sugar Home Runs promotion promises to be sweeter than the last.”

McKenzie noted Hidden Harvest serves the entire Great Lakes Bay Region.

“Hidden Harvest works with more than 175 community feeding programs that in turn will benefit from the Michigan Sugar Home Runs promotion. Thank you again and again.”

This year’s Michigan Sugar Home Runs promotion comes on the heels of the successful “Sweet Shots of the Game” promotion with the Saginaw Spirit, through which Michigan Sugar Company donated 25 pounds of sugar to Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan for every home goal tallied this season by the Spirit. The result was a donation of more than 4,000 pounds of sugar that is being put to good use at City Rescue Mission in Saginaw and Good Samaritan Rescue Mission in Bay City, the two homeless shelters operated by Rescue Ministries.

“The Michigan Sugar Home Runs and Sweet Shots of the Game promotions are just two examples of how Michigan Sugar Company is working to make a positive impact in our local communities,” said Rob Clark, Director of Communications and Community Relations for the company. “We are excited to partner once again with the Great Lakes Loons to help make life a bit sweeter for those who rely on Hidden Harvest for services. And we are honored to help Hidden Harvest, an amazing nonprofit organization that touches the lives of so many people in the Great Lakes Bay Region in a positive way.”

The Great Lakes Loons begin the 2019 season on the road at Lake County with a pair of games on Thursday and Friday, April 4-5. Opening Day at Dow Diamond is set for 4:05 p.m. Saturday, April 6, vs. Lake County. That begins a six-day homestand through April 11. For ticket information, go to loons.com or call 989-837-2255.

“We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with Michigan Sugar once again this season as our home run sponsor,” said Brad Tammen, President and General Manager for the Loons. “We view ourselves as not just a baseball team, but a servant in the community. To help these two organizations, along with other nonprofits in our region, is something we will always strive to do.”

About the Great Lakes Loons

The Great Lakes Loons are a Single-A Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Founded in 2007, the club is a member of the 16-team Midwest League and won its first championship in 2016. Dow Diamond is home to the Great Lakes Loons. Constructed in just 367 days, the ballpark was designed by HOK Sport (now Populous) and built by the Three Rivers Corp. In addition to hosting 70 Loons home games every season, the stadium has hosted more than 1,000 special events, including both the 2008 and 2017 MWL All-Star Games, major concerts, corporate events, formal dinners and receptions, and other functions. Learn more at loons.com.

About Hidden Harvest

Hidden Harvest is a food rescue and hunger relief organization that has saved more than 35 million pounds of healthy and nutritious food since its founding in 1994. Headquartered at 940 E. Genesee Ave. in Saginaw, Hidden Harvest serves more than 150 agencies from food contributed by more than 300 food donors. In its first year of operations, Hidden Harvest redistributed 59,852 pounds of food. Today, the organization average more than 208,000 pounds of food per month. Once again this year, Hidden Harvest is on target to exceed 2.6 million pounds of surplus food for recipient agencies in Great Lakes Bay Region. Learn more at hiddenharvestshares.org.
About Michigan Sugar Company Established in 1906 and headquartered in Bay City, Michigan Sugar Company is a cooperative owned by approximately 900 growers who annually plant and harvest about 160,000 acres of sugarbeets. The company processes those beets at factories in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing, producing about 1.3 billion pounds of sugar each year that it sells under the Pioneer and Big Chief brands. The company has 930 year-round employees and hires an additional 1,100 seasonal workers. Michigan Sugar has an annual local economic impact of about $500 million. Learn more at michigansugar.com.