Raleigh, NC, April 25, 2018 – The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma announced today a $50,000 donation from Greg Lindberg, founder and CEO of Eli Global, a privately-owned federation of independent companies operating in 15 different sectors worldwide. The donation will enable the Food Bank to purchase an additional 250,000 pounds of fresh produce.
Fresh food is necessary to maintain good health and productivity. Over the last five years the Food Bank has embarked on the Produce Project as a means to increase the amount of nutritious food provided to its clients. Through this program the Food Bank has increased the amount of fresh produce by 63 percent over the last five years including nearly eight million pounds of produce last year.
The donation will support the overall Produce Project and the Food Bank’s Free Family Farmers’ Markets at area Community Action Project (CAP) and Educare sites that offer early learning opportunities to low-income families.
“Mr. Lindberg and Eli Global recognize that a community that meets the needs of citizens in maintaining good health and vigor will benefit everyone,” stated Eileen Bradshaw, executive director of the Food Bank. “Mr. Lindberg has partnered with another food bank in North Carolina, and now eastern Oklahoma is fortunate to have a new business willing to invest in the health of our community.”
In Oklahoma one in six people struggle with hunger, including more than 216,000 children. The Food Bank relies on community partners to make sure that people who don’t know where they will get their next meal have somewhere to turn in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
“The Food Bank secures produce from growers and distributors across the country,” continued Bradshaw. “We know providing food that is higher in nutritional content will help those who are vulnerable so they can function effectively in school, work and in their daily lives. Furthermore, we know that individuals with healthy diets have lower health care costs.”
As a member of the national Feeding America network, the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma delivers fresh food to clients through its network of 465 Partner Programs in 24 counties in eastern Oklahoma. In addition, Food Bank programs such as Free Family Farmers’ Markets at low-income early learning centers, Senior Servings, Clinic Pantries, and Mobile Pantries in rural communities are all vehicles to get fresh food to people experiencing hunger.
About the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma: Founded in 1981, the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is one of the largest, private hunger-relief organizations in Oklahoma. With branches in Tulsa and McAlester, it distributes donated items to 465 Partner Programs in 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma. These programs include emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, senior centers, and veteran’s initiatives. In addition, the Food Bank helps raise public awareness about hunger and the role of food banking in alleviating hunger. For more information about the Food Bank visit okfoodbank.org.
About Eli Global: Headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, USA, Eli Global is wholly owned by its founder and employees. It is a federation of independent portfolios comprising more than 100 businesses with more than 7,500 of the brightest minds and determined entrepreneurs around the world. Eli’s portfolios operate in 15 different sectors, including healthcare, technology, insurance and financial services.
About Greg Lindberg: Greg Lindberg is a bootstrap entrepreneur who started a small health insurance compliance and reimbursement newsletter business with $5,000 in 1991 and grew it without any outside equity to $1 million a year in profit by 2001. He and his team then reinvested that cash flow in over 100 acquisitions that have produced a compound annual growth rate of over 35 percent on equity capital. Today Lindberg has beneficial economic interests in over 100 companies with 7,000 employees, $1.75 billion in revenue, and $20 billion in pro forma assets including pending acquisitions. His most important strategy has been long-term thinking with a focus on health care and “first who, then what.” Lindberg has never sold a company and has never taken a dividend from his insurance operations.
