Apr 14, 2011 10:18 AM

Dot Foods Inc and its employees are donating $51,636 to the American Red Cross, Global FoodBanking Network, and Habitat for Humanity to support their efforts in aiding Japan as it recovers from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

In a letter sent to employees, Pat Tracy, chairman of the food redistributor, asked each employee to consider making a donation, which the company would match dollar for dollar. The money donated by employees, along with the Dot match, will be sent directly to one of the three aforementioned organizations to assist in their relief efforts. The American Red Cross will receive $21,136, the Global FoodBanking Network will receive $16,776, and Habitat for Humanity will receive $13,724. The organizations were chosen based on Dot’s familiarity with each of them.

“It is with great empathy for the Japanese people and consistency with our values that we have organized a response to this cataclysmic event,” said Tracy. “It is our intention to help provide relief in this worldwide effort by offering a program whereby our employees and our company can contribute monetarily to help those in need.”

This is not the first time Dot has organized a response such as this. In March 2010, Dot collected and loaded 12 trucks with food and supplies bound for Haiti after it was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. In addition, Dot matched all employee contributions to donate a total of $92,990 to the Haitian relief efforts.

Dot Foods carries 100,000 products from 700 food industry manufacturers. Dot Foods and Dot Transportation sell and deliver foodservice, convenience, retail, vending, equipment and supplies to distributors in all 50 states. Dot Foods operates eight distribution centers in Modesto CA, Vidalia GA, Burley ID, Mount Sterling IL, Cambridge City IN, Williamsport MD, Liverpool NY, and Ardmore OK.

For more information, visit www.dotfoods.com.