Dot Foods donates $25,000 to Oxford County food security

(From left to right) Punita Aggarwal (Dot Foods), Harrold, Jeannie Lee, Jessie, Lovish Sharma, Kelly Bula (Salvation Army), Marcus Maxwell (Dot) Kelly, Clint, Tim Lobzun, Sahil Sharma (Dot), Akhil Nair (Dot), Elizalde Pacana (Dot). (Kyrah Smith photo)

Kyrah Smith, Echo Correspondent

Thanksgiving arrived early in Ingersoll on October 9, as Dot Foods delivered $25,000 worth of food and supplies to five local food pantries for the second consecutive year.

Through the company’s Neighbour-to-Neighbour program, donations were delivered to Ingersoll’s Salvation Army and Stich Supper Club, as well as Woodstock’s Salvation Army and Operation Sharing. Cycles of Life in Tillsonburg was also on the list.

The Neighbour-to-Neighbour program allows participating food pantries to choose the products that will be most useful to their communities.

“Dot Foods’ Neighbour-to-Neighbour program is especially meaningful because it gives our employees the opportunity to support the communities where they live and work,” said Suzy Parn, director of Dot Foods’ Corporate Charitable Committee.

This is not the first time Dot Foods has contributed to local food pantries. In 2025, the company donated $626,000 worth of products to more than 120 food pantries across the communities it serves.

The first delivery of the day arrived at Ingersoll’s Salvation Army at approximately 9:30 a.m.

“We are making five deliveries today,” said Punita Aggarwal of Dot Foods. “We have these volunteers from all over the country that came here just to help.”

Aggarwal explained that preparations for the donation began two months before the deliveries.

“It’s a lot of work,” she said.

The truck arriving at the Salvation Army contained approximately $5,000 worth of food, including Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, and a variety of other dried goods.

For Kelly Bula of Ingersoll’s Salvation Army, donations such as these can make a significant difference.

“I tell people, when you go to the grocery store, there’s nothing that you can’t use,” Bula said. “It’s one of those things that gets very much overlooked. Cereal seems like such a simple thing to some people.”

Bula also expressed her gratitude toward Dot Foods and its continued support of the community.

“It’s amazing to see some companies that still have family values,” she said, adding that despite being a larger company, Dot Foods has never stopped showing up for the community.

“These guys are really showing that they’re still part of the community, showing how much they care.”