It is with deep gratitude that we publish these words to thank Garden Fresh Gourmet, and it’s Founder and CEO, Jack Aronson.
On a bleak day in October, when MMRC had a truck load of vital medical supplies for our orphanages, but no money for gas, we were contacted by Jack and ecstatic to accept a substantial donation that was more than enough to cover our fuel costs for over a month. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief and were grateful for Jack’s generosity. But then something amazing happened: Jack kept sending us money.
It has been said that we at MMRC have big hearts, generosity of spirit, and a love of Haiti, but we are here to tell you, that nothing has impressed us more in the past eleven months than the extreme humanitarian spirit of Garden Fresh Gourmet. While Jack and Garden Fresh Charities have made it a core value to give generously to U.S. charities in support of the most vulnerable in their own country, (including the Children’s Hospital Of Michigan and the University Of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center), it means the world to us that they have recognized the urgent and desperate need of the Haitian people.
While we would have been more than happy to accept Jack’s money and keeping doing good stuff with it, Garden Fresh continues to amaze and inspire us. As we write this, a member of their team is actively working to purchase and deliver thousands of pounds of vital cholera supplies. We are meeting regularly to discuss longer term projects including permanent solution water purification, educational and school supplies for our orphanages, and, in yet another act of sheer generosity: no surprise where the funds for our new vehicle came from. Thanks, Jack.
Think the story ends there? Nope. Jack and Mike came to Port Au Prince, Haiti. They visited the country that we at MMRC have fallen in love with, got their hands dirty, moved boxes, mopped floors, and donated their time and their hearts to learn and experience what it means to be MMRC in Haiti. And while they pledged further funds for the future of MMRC, what meant the world to us was the hours we spent talking into the night sharing our stories and shaping our plans for the contributions we can make together in Haiti.
We cannot thank them enough.
Want to know more about Jack and the Garden Fresh family?
Jack Aronson was owner/operator of a small Barbecue joint near Detroit, Michigan, when he ignited the fresh salsa revolution—a revolution that would eventually sweep the country and help make salsa the fastest-growing condiment in the United States. It was in the back of his modest restaurant that he concocted his first salsa recipe on the fly using only fresh, all-natural ingredients. His salsa was so good, people came from miles around just to try it.
Before long, Jack and his wife, Annette, got out of the restaurant business and founded a little company called Garden Fresh Salsa. Now, twelve years later, Garden Fresh is the number-one fresh salsa in North America. That’s not all. Besides fresh salsa, the Garden Fresh brand now includes an incredible array of chips, hummus and dips—each with its own breakthrough flavor profile.
Jack is an avid softball player, often competing on a national level. He’s also a bicycling enthusiast, a world traveler, and lover of all things gastronomical. The little salsa company he and Annette founded now supports over 400 employees and their families, plus a number of charitable causes near and dear to their hearts. One cause that Jack is particularly committed to is helping the people of earthquake-ravaged Haiti restore a modicum of comfort and dignity to their lives.
That kind of altruistic commitment is just part of the Garden Fresh DNA.
The next time you are at the store looking for salsa, chips, hummus, or guacamole, and you spot the Garden Fresh logo, you can be sure that not only are you purchasing the #1 gourmet salsa products in North America, but that you are supporting a corporation committed to the future of Haiti. You can know that Garden Fresh is a company that believes every life is precious and who will stop at nothing and do whatever it takes to protect and support the safety and welfare of the most vulnerable in any way they can. Just like us.
Extreme Humanitarians working together. Love it.
