Thermo King Central Carolinas Plays a Big Role for a Big Cause

Vaccines and food? A winning combination. In a dual effort to help save lives and feed hungry neighbors, Thermo King recently worked with healthcare provider Novant Health to support a pop-up food pantry event that took place in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Novant Health, a healthcare organization providing care and services to communities across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, is a Thermo King SuperFreezer customer. And like many medical centers and health agencies, the organization is ramping up COVID-19 vaccination efforts to serve more neighbors. Novant deploys a mobile unit to underserved communities to provide residents easier access to vaccinations.

For the recent pop-up event, Novant partnered with Thermo King to implement a creative strategy: offer vaccines and free food kits to incentivize more residents. To make this work, Thermo King leveraged its We Move Food program. The result? Nearly 100 people were vaccinated during the 2-hour event, and 75 meal kits were distributed for families in the community. Each kit included enough food to feed a family of 4 for up to 3 days.

Behind the Scenes Legwork: Thermo King Central Carolinas and Partners

While this event was a big success, it did not come without a hiccup (or two!). But nothing slowed down the Thermo King Central Carolinas' dealer team of John Burke, Ben Cox, and William Brown. Days before the event, Novant didn't have a refrigerated truck to transport the donated food. In a down-to-the-wire last minute save, John, Ben, and William secured a refrigerated truck and driver to pick up and deliver pallets of food to the site.

“Providing support to make sure this event still took place was important to me. Helping deliver vaccines and meals to people who need them is at the heart of who we are at Thermo King. It’s not every day that you get this type of opportunity, and I’m glad I was able to help,” said William. “I’m happy that it all went well and that I was able to make a difference for this community.”

The refrigerated truck and driver secured happened to be Thermo King customer Krispy Kreme—and they were a big help in getting food to this event, even bringing donuts!

“I’m very thankful for the support we received from Krispy Kreme. We wouldn’t have been able to pull this off without them,” said John. “It’s through partnerships like this that we're able to support the We Move Food program and participate in important events like the pop-up pantry, which serves our neighbors in need. I’m glad that we were all able to work together to support Novant Health and help this community.”