It all started with a few food drives in 2019. Carolina Lorenz, Director of Marketing at NEXT Plumbing & Hydronics Supply, picked up some yellow bins from Daily Bread Food Bank and placed them in each of the company’s then-11 locations.
Today, our team says there are few areas of the organization that NEXT hasn’t supported. They have become a formidable partner in the fight to end hunger.
“The culture at NEXT is all about giving back to the community,” said Carolina. “We take giving back very seriously; our Core Values are about being integral to our customers, coworker and community.”
After seeing interest from those initial food drives, Carolina reached out to Daily Bread to schedule a corporate volunteer shift. She sent an email out to the NEXT team to ask for registrants and received “an incredible response,” she said. “I remember calling [Daily Bread] and saying, ‘Really, do we only have 12 spots? Can we bring more people?’”
Since then, NEXT has volunteered on-site about a half-dozen more times, with three more dates scheduled for 2025. One of the most memorable shifts was last May. Carolina and other NEXT team members had been hearing chatter about employees wanting to drop a few pounds gained during the pandemic, so they organized a company-wide, voluntary weight loss challenge, for which NEXT would donate a pound of food for every pound lost. Employees ended up losing a total of 340 lbs. Not only did NEXT donate that amount in food, but CEO Michael Storfer additionally supported by donating $100 per pound, giving $34,000 to the fight to end hunger.
Through these volunteer shifts, Carolina got to know more about Daily Bread’s operation and our greatest needs. One day she was struck by an idea: NEXT is a wholesaler with many trucks on the road in the GTA, delivering products to customers – what if on their way back, the trucks transported food for Daily Bread? “It’s a simple reroute before we come home,” she recalled thinking. “We’ve got trucks driving all over the city, so how can we help?” She reached out to our operations managers and offered to help. Since then, NEXT trucks have provided crucial assistance during our busiest times, like picking up school drive donations during the holidays or detouring at the last minute to grab corporate donations of oatmeal and granola.
All of this support stemmed from those first food drives and volunteer shifts. “When we went [to Daily Bread] we had the tour, and the statistics were just alarming,” Carolina said. “And, with all the great research and advocacy you do, sadly, it’s very compelling to want to give to the food bank.”
Interested in volunteering at Daily Bread with your company? Learn more about our Employee Volunteer Program.
