This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Volunteers from Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp. on Wednesday delivered four truckloads of food worth about $27,000 to the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank in Ogden, providing holiday food for nearly 2,000 Utah families.

The delivery was so large that students from the Ogden Preparatory Academy National Junior Honor Society pitched in to unload the trucks and assemble food bags for needy families.

The company also contributed an additional $7,000 to the food bank operated by Northern Utah Catholic Community Services, as well as to the Cache County Community Food Bank in Logan and the Family Connection Center Food Bank in Layton for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"GSL Minerals plays a special role in providing food so all families in Northern Utah can have a wonderful Christmas meal," said Marcie Valdez, director of the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank. "I'm also delighted that so many students from Ogden Prep are helping us handle this year's contribution, which is the biggest we've ever received."

Trucks delivered yams, stuffing, gravy, tuna, holiday candy canes, 7,000 fresh apples and oranges from Ogden wholesaler Carlo's Produce, and 20,000 fresh eggs from Ogden wholesaler Rogers Eggs.

The items were purchased with GSL Minerals' contributions, supplemented by donations from vendors such as Cardwell Distributing, CCC Group, Challenger Pallet and Supply, DISCO Associates, Dykman Electrical, Herrick Industrial Supply, Hill Brothers Chemical, Kimball Midwest, Komatsu Equipment, Marriott Construction, Motion Industries, Process Engineered Products, Tram Electric, Waste Management and Wheeler Machinery Co.

This is the fifth consecutive year that GSL Minerals has been the largest contributor to the Ogden food bank.

"We help growers feed America, so it is fitting to help local nonprofits feed and care for vulnerable citizens of Northern Utah," said Corey Milne, director of advanced manufacturing technology for Great Salt Lake Minerals.

More than 90 percent of the company's 350 employees live in Weber, Cache and Davis counties.

Great Salt Lake Minerals produces organic-approved sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer from the minerals of the Great Salt Lake using solar power as its primary energy source.