Wendell Pierce, Sterling Farms, AFL to Hold Food Drive

The Arena Football League will join forces with actor Wendell Pierce to launch the AFL Sterling Farms Fresh Food Drive on Tuesday, August 7th. The newly-launched grocery chain, owned in part by Pierce, will provide bags of fresh produce free to 500 New Orleans area residents in need. The event will take place at the Lapalco Village Shopping Center in Marrero, LA, future home of Sterling Farms, from 4 p.m. CT – 6 p.m. CT . The AFL will be hosting its championship game, AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV on Friday, August 10th at the New Orleans Arena.
Pierce, a New Orleans native who starred in the HBO drama The Wire and plays a leading role in the HBO series Treme, co-founded Sterling Farms grocery stores to directly provide fresh grocery products to residents in underserved New Orleans neighborhoods hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Sterling Farms will manage three grocery and convenience stores in the New Orleans area in the coming months. The AFL Sterling Farms Fresh Food Drive will take place at the future site of the first Sterling Farms full service grocery store in Marrero.
“This is one of our outreach campaigns to end food deserts,” Pierce said. “We are happy to provide many of families who are in need with some of the fresh produce and grocery items that our company will offer.  The families in these underserved areas will benefit from a company like ours and our mission to provide them the sterling service they deserve.  We are grateful to the AFL for inviting us to be a partner on this very gratifying project.”  Members of both AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV teams will aid Pierce in greeting and assisting residents as they receive the fresh produce and grocery items from Sterling Farms.
“The AFL Sterling Farms Fresh Food Drive is an excellent prelude to AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV,” Adam Robbins, Sr. VP of Marketing and Partnerships for the AFL, said. “Being able to give back to the New Orleans community and contributing to such a meaningful mission with Sterling Farms and Wendell Pierce is an exciting opportunity for the AFL.”
AVITAE Caffeinated Water, RAM Trucks and 711 Bourbon Heat will be sponsoring the event with the AFL and Sterling Farms.