(NAFB.com) – America’s sugarbeet growers are sharing the spirit of connection during the holiday season in a variety of ways. For example, the Michigan Sugar Company celebrated National Real Sugar Day by volunteering at the company’s annual United Way Sugar Distribution Day, donating more than 57,000 pounds of Real Pioneer Sugar to more than 100 nonprofits, many of them food pantries. The Domino Sugar Refinery of Baltimore launched an Oyster Gardening Program. Oysters act as a natural filtration system to keep water clean. With oyster populations declining, Domino employees lower cages of baby oysters into a nearby river to begin growth. American Crystal Sugar employees in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota give five cents for every ton of sugarbeets harvested to local charities where employees live and work. Employee gifts mean over 6,000 families in the Red River Valley will have sugar in their holiday meal boxes this season.
