Fans are invited to help the Big 12 Conference in the ongoing fight against hunger. For the second consecutive year, donations for the Big 12 Basketball Food Drive will be made through a secure, dedicated website in lieu of in-person collections.
The 2022 Big 12 Basketball Food Drive, presented by Compass Minerals, has been a welcome complement to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships held annually in Kansas City. This marks the third year for Overland Park, Kansas-based Compass Minerals to serve as presenting sponsor, with all Food Drive donations benefitting Harvesters—The Community Food Network.
Big 12 fans are encouraged to donate securely online via harvesters.org/CompassMinerals
or by texting BIG12 to 816-583-0500 from Feb. 15 through March 15. Every dollar donated helps provide three meals. When you reach the donation page, click your favorite team and pledge support. The team’s fan base that raises the most money for Harvesters will be recognized following the Conference Basketball Championships. As it has since the inception of the Food Drive, Compass Minerals will be matching donations up to $10,000 total.
“Compass Minerals is honored to partner with the Big 12 to assist in the fight against hunger by supporting Harvesters,” said Compass Minerals President and CEO Kevin S. Crutchfield. “At Compass Minerals, our core purpose is to help keep people safe, feed the world and enrich lives. Being engaged in our community and making a positive impact is an important part of fulfilling that purpose.”
Harvesters – The Community Food Network is a regional food bank providing food and related household products to food pantries, community kitchens, shelters and others. Additionally, the organization offers education programs to increase community awareness of hunger and teach about good nutrition.
“This has been a tremendous way to give back to the city and people of the Kansas City region, and we thank our fans in advance for participating in the 2022 Big 12 Basketball Food Drive,” said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “The ongoing commitment by Compass Minerals to this effort as one of our sponsors cannot be understated and we appreciate their significant generosity.”
The 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship will be held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, March 9-12. The Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship will be held at Municipal Auditorium, March 10-13.
“This is a wonderful event and we’re proud to be a part of it,” said Valerie Nicholson-Watson, president and CEO of Harvesters. “We have seen constant high demand during the past two years. Increasing food prices and economic pressures are still bringing many families, children and seniors to our network of pantries, community kitchens and mobile food distributions for the very first time. We thank the Big 12 Conference and Compass Minerals for allowing us to benefit from the Big 12 Basketball Food Drive in order to help meet this need in our community.”
In addition to the virtual food drive, fans are also encouraged to support Harvesters by donating non-perishable items when they shop at participating Aldi stores March 1-15. Blue donation barrels will be available at 30 locations across Kansas City and in Topeka.
The relationship with Compass Minerals is managed by Big 12 Sports Properties on behalf of the Conference. Big 12 Sports Properties is the LEARFIELD-dedicated team representing the Conference as its sponsorship rights holder.
About Compass Minerals
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) is a leading global provider of essential minerals focused on safely delivering where and when it matters to help solve nature’s challenges for customers and communities. The company’s salt products help keep roadways safe during winter weather and are used in numerous other consumer, industrial and agricultural applications. Its plant nutrition business manufactures products that improve the quality and yield of crops, while supporting sustainable agriculture. And its specialty chemical business serves the water treatment industry and other industrial processes. Additionally, the company is pursuing development of a sustainable lithium brine resource to support the North American battery market and is a minority owner of Fortress North America, a next-generation fire retardant company. Compass Minerals operates 15 production and packaging facilities with more than 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Brazil. Visit compassminerals.com to learn more about the company and its products.
About Harvesters—The Community Food Network
Harvesters is a regional food bank serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 760 nonprofit agencies including food pantries, community kitchens, shelters and others. Agencies in Harvesters’ network provide food assistance to as many as 141,500 different people each month. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit harvesters.org.
About Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is comprised of 10 Universities – Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech and West Virginia. The Big 12 is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics conference that encompasses five states with over 40 million people within its geographic footprint. In its 26th year, the Conference has produced over 720 Academic All-America selections and claimed national championship team titles in 19 of its 23 sponsored sports. Its student-athletes and teams have combined for over 700 individual NCAA titles and 69 team national championships. Nearly 5,000 student-athletes from across the United States and around the World compete annually under the Big 12 banner. For more information, visit Big12Sports.com and follow the Conference on Facebook (Facebook.com/Big12), Twitter (@Big12Conference), Instagram (Instagram.com/big12conference/) and YouTube (YouTube.com/Big12Conference).