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Seamark Ranch, Feeding Northeast Florida get donations from Atlantic Logistics

Keystone Heights company contributes to 12 nonprofits

For Clay Today
Posted 3/30/22

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Rob Hooper, Jr. CEO of Atlantic Logistics and his mother Evie Hooper, founder of the company, launched the organization’s volunteer and philanthropy initiative …

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Seamark Ranch, Feeding Northeast Florida get donations from Atlantic Logistics

Keystone Heights company contributes to 12 nonprofits


Posted

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Rob Hooper, Jr. CEO of Atlantic Logistics and his mother Evie Hooper, founder of the company, launched the organization’s volunteer and philanthropy initiative called Atlantic Cares in December 2021 following a 20-year tradition with charitable giving. Local nonprofits were selected to benefit from the funding and a formalized volunteer program with staff members who receive paid workdays to help those in need.

Two of the organizations set to get $2,500 donations to include Seamark Ranch in Green Cove Springs and Feeding Northeast Florida.

According to Rob Hooper, the business contributes one dollar for every load of freight moved in 2022, and each month a different organization is chosen for a donation. The organizations were selected through submissions from the Atlantic Cares team and then evaluated with nonprofit industry methods.

Atlantic Logistics has offices in Keystone Heights and Jacksonville.

The other nonprofits selected included Ronald McDonald House, ALS Association, Sulzbacher Center, Coral Restoration Foundation, Operation New Uniform, Tunnels to Towers, St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund Inc., 6:8 Ministries, United Way of Northeast Florida, and Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

Starting in first quarter 2022, Jan Brittingham, Atlantic Logistics’ Director of Human Resources, is frequently found among the fruit and fields at Seamark Ranch, where she volunteers each month to assist the ranch in its mission to provide a traditional home environment for children in crisis.

The ranch is a Christian-based organization that provides therapy-based and individualized care in faith, school and the community, and boasts a variety of food crops and farm animals the children grow and tend. As the January recipient of the Atlantic Cares charitable giving program, Seamark Ranch will use the corporate gift to acquire and repair essential farming equipment. Brittingham is at the ranch the second Saturday of each month working in the fields. Brittingham believes in Seamark’s mission, which unconditionally accepts children who have struggled with abuse.

According to Seamark Ranch CEO Greg Voss, the 465 acres includes the farm where crops are harvested with blueberry plants, strawberry fields and orange trees, plus a horse pasture that requires clearing. Brittingham finds great purpose in helping Voss and the Ranch share a similar Atlantic Cares tenet to give back to the community and be humbled to have the means to help worthy causes in Northeast Florida, and beyond.

The donation from Atlantic Logistics will help the Ronald McDonald House fulfill its wish list of items they need locally from food items and toiletries to kitchen utensils, gift cards and games, along with financial donations and volunteers.

In March, Feeding Northeast Florida was selected as the transportation company’s philanthropic beneficiary to help the nonprofit’s work to coordinate with more than 300 nonprofit partner agencies and programs, and distributing close to 31 million pounds of food to 2.8 million individuals while covering an eight-county area, which is 55,000 square miles.

“We are really, at the core, coming from a belief that no one in our community should be hungry or struggling with this basic human need,” said Sarah Dobson, the Director of Development at Feeding Northeast Florida. “There is plenty of food in this country to feed everyone. It comes down to access. In some parts of our community, both urban and rural, there just are not many grocery stores or places that provide access to healthy food. Our role is to get the food, make sure it is healthy and safe, and then redistribute it.”

Feeding Northeast Florida’s mission is key to Atlantic Logistics support. The third-party logistics provider chose Feeding Northeast Florida for its charitable giving program as the pandemic was a strong reminder of how easily the most basic items can be taken away from many in need. According to Atlantic Logistics Chief Operating Officer Johnnie Greene, “Helping with food insecurity supports the company’s philosophy that no one should go hungry. Period."

Rob personally volunteers and donates to professional and educational organizations in the region and places great importance in volunteering at his church and the mission-oriented ministry, among others. He and his company team members will continue to support the selected charities in 2022 with volunteers, funding, and in-kind services.

About Atlantic Logistics: Atlantic Logistics was founded in 2001 as a woman-owned business and experienced record growth in 2021, moving over 30,000 loads and generating $41 million in total revenue. Utilizing the industry’s latest technologies such as load-tracking, digital freight matching and transportation management software, the company is prospering. Professional partners including McLeod Software have maximized Atlantic Logistics' resources to meet logistics and supply chain challenges into 2022 and beyond. For more information, call 800.940.8712. Visit the websites at https://www.shipatlantic.com and https://www.shipatlantic.com/tags/atlantic-cares.