December 12, 2011
By Rebecca Layne
The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER- Officials at National Fruit gave a surprise gift to the USO on Sunday.
At its holiday party held at Millwood Banquet Hall, officials presented a $25,000 check to the organization responsible for lifting the spirit of American soldiers and their families.
"This is [a cause] that is very touching to us," said Paige Gum, executive coordinator at National Fruit. "We try to pick an organization that has a really good cause."
She said the Winchester-based company chose the USO because many of its employees served or have relatives serving in the military. Also, the timing "seemed to be right" with troops coming home soon from Iraq.
The USO is a private nonprofit, nonpartisan organization the mission of which is to support the troops by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services to them and their families.
For the past five years, National Fruit, which makes White House apple juice and sauce and vinegar, has donated money to a charitable organization during Christmas.
Only in the past two years, however, have the donations really taken off.
Last year, the company donated $15,000 to the Salvation Army - a large sum in a year when the apple crop was damaged by sun scald, frost and an invasion of brown marmorated stink bugs that pierced the fruit and sucked out juice.
This year's contribution to the USO is the company's biggest donation.
"We are a biblical-based company," Gum said, adding that its values became family and locally oriented after David Gum became president five years ago.
"We believe if you give back to the community, the support comes back to you," she said.
More than 180 people work at National Fruit.
- Contact Rebecca Layne at
rlayne@winchesterstar.com
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