Kom op tegen Kanker
Everyone knows someone with cancer. It's a horrific disease that so many, sadly, end up having to battle every day. Maybe it's a friend or family member, or maybe it’s even you. On a daily basis as many as 112 Flemish people receive the awful news that this relentless disease is now part of their body. We haven't been spared either from seeing, up close and personal, what cancer does to the people we love. And that’s why supporting initiatives like this, against cancer, is so important to us.
Kom op tegen Kanker seeks to improve cancer patient quality of life and fight for a cancer-free world. As the leader and central contact point of the Flemish Community, they make sure that countless care projects are put into action. In addition, they invest heavily in innovative cancer research, both psychosocial and biomedical. In this way, they contribute to a greater chance of recovery and the best possible treatment for cancer patients.
And that’s why for each logo apple sold, we donate EUR .02 to Kom op tegen Kanker. Last year we raised more than EUR 7,000! On top of that, our Manager Karel, and a number of customers, go cycling every year on behalf of the 1,000 Kilometres Kom op tegen Kanker Cycling Challenge too.
Make-A-Wish®
Fruitsnacks started supporting Make-A-Wish at the start of 2016. They're a fantastic organisation responsible for fulfilling the fondest wishes of children suffering from life-threatening diseases. That includes meeting a celebrity idol or taking a ride on a fire truck: they pull out all the stops to make their dream day come true. In the past 25 years, this organisation has already fulfilled more than 2,600 wishes.
Make-A-Wish shoulders all the costs related to fulfilling the children's wishes. Your weekly fruit basket can be part of putting a smile on their faces!
At the start of spring we select an apple tree for each Make-A-Wish child from our own orchards. Every tree - or even better - every wish tree bears the name of a wish child. For each blossoming season we organise a special opening day for our orchard of wishes. At this 'ceremony’, each wish child is assigned their own tree. From that point on, it’s all about looking forward to October: that's when the apples are ready for the picking!
When harvest time is here, the children get to join their families in harvesting the apples from their very own tree! It goes without saying that all the apples go to the wish child and his or her family. Between the blossoming and harvest, the children get regular photo updates of how their tree is doing, along with the information we share with them on modern fruit cultivation processes.
As a result of a good idea from one of the daddies, we actually had the wish children of 2018 adopt their tree. They could come and pick it up at Fruitsnacks and plant it in their own garden so that they can enjoy their own grown apples every year.
De Wroeter
We’ve partnered with Kortessem-based welfare work centre, De Wroeter, for years already now. They look for people who have difficulties entering the ordinary labour market, and then focus on what their talents and abilities are. In doing so, they are able to find ways to boost their self-esteem and strengthen their position in society. Custom work and care are at the heart of De Wroeter. Every day they put a tremendous amount of love and patience into the work they do, so that they can provide us with the best organic fruit every week. The local economy, community and environment all benefit from their supply of our organic fruit. Since the fruit doesn’t have to go far to get to us, both companies keep their carbon footprints to a minimum. And of course, it fits in perfectly with our buy-local vision.
Sint Vincentius
The cosmetic standards of Western consumers contribute to the worldwide waste of millions of tons of food. Despite there being any number of ways to tackle food waste, the sheer scale of waste remains shameful. Have you ever wondered what we do with the fruit that isn’t fit for delivery, but that's still perfectly fine for consumption? Well, we're happy to report that the fruit that doesn’t make it to the market is not headed straight for the bin!
Strangely-shaped and/or slightly damaged fruit is collected weekly by Sint Vincentius volunteers. Every day, they work tirelessly to help those in need in the region. Among others, their work includes food distributions where our fruit is also distributed! We donate over 20 tonnes of fruit annually.