Building Strong Communities

We strive to improve the quality of life in communities where Schwan's subsidiary employees live and work. We focus on exceptional efforts to end hunger, promote youth education and leadership development, and provide essential services that advance healthier communities.

Why We Give

Deep within our culture, we have a desire to make a positive impact in the communities where we work and live. One way we do this is by giving back to our communities in the form of financial support, food donations and employee volunteerism.

How We Give

We support our communities in two ways:

  1. Schwan's Corporate Giving Foundation is an endowed private foundation established by the company in 2000 and governed by an independent board of directors.
  2. Direct donations from the company support many great community causes and events associated with ending hunger and developing youth.

Hunger Relief Efforts

As a food company, we feel a deep responsibility to help support people in need of nutritious meals. That's why Schwan's Company and the Schwan's Corporate Giving Foundation partner with Feeding America, the leading non-profit hunger organization in the United States, and its affiliated food banks and food shelves to fight hunger. Our support and that of our company subsidiaries includes:

  • Providing in-kind gifts.
  • Creating employee volunteer opportunities.
  • Building awareness of Feeding America and its affiliated food banks and agencies among employees and customers.
  • Giving nearly 1.1 million pounds of food and ingredients in 2022.

Investing in Future Leaders

We focus on the enhancement of youth leadership and education opportunities through organizations such as Enactus and support for students continuing their undergraduate education. Schwan's Corporate Giving Foundation supports scholarship opportunities for the children of Schwan's subsidiary employees with renewable (up to four years) scholarships worth $2,500 per year. In 2022, 14 students were awarded post-secondary scholarships. In addition, the Foundation supports the Schwan’s Academic Scholarship at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota.

In 2015, Schwan's Company and Schwan's Corporate Giving Foundation began their ongoing partnership with the University of Minnesota. We support:

  • Graduate assistantships and undergraduate scholarships in Carlson School and College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
  • Women Invested in Leadership and Learning
  • A Nutrition Center for student athletes
  • Men's and Women's Athletics

Commitment to School Nutrition

For more than 30 years, Schwan’s Food Service, Inc. has made an annual donation to the School Nutrition Foundation’s scholarship program. This scholarship enables the School Nutrition Foundation to foster good nutrition in school lunch programs and enhance school food service management. Scholarships up to $2,500 each are awarded.

Helping Our Communities

Schwan's Company and the Schwan's Corporate Giving Foundation support organizations such as the local United Way that have a broad impact on the communities in which subsidiary employees live and work.

  • Schwan's Corporate Giving Foundation makes grants in honor of employee campaigns for local United Way organizations in Minnesota and Ohio.
  • Schwan's Company sponsors DISH - the leading fundraising event for Second Harvest Heartland
  • Quarterly donations of product to Mary's Place in Minneapolis
  • Regular donations to Salina Emergency Aid Food Shelf in Salina, Kansas

Read about our social, economic and environmental objectives and the actions we’ve taken to achieve them.