Dean Foods is committed to nurturing and supporting the communities where we do business. We give back to our communities to strengthen them and to foster a healthier and better tomorrow. Our community support efforts are focused in three main areas - health/nutrition (including hunger), education/arts and environmental stewardship/conservation. We support worthy organizations both at the corporate level and locally through our network of processing facilities nationwide. Guidelines for requesting a contribution can be found below.

Health and Nutrition

As a food company, it is our obligation to help educate consumers on matters that affect their health, particularly the importance of making good nutritional choices and leading healthy, active lifestyles. Because we make so many wholesome and nutritious products that are essential for good health, we look for opportunities to bring a message to consumers about the products we know best and their role in fostering healthy lifestyles.

We recognize that building healthy communities begins with healthy moms and children. That's why our Horizon Organic brand sponsors Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, a recognized leader and resource in promoting maternal and child health and wellbeing. Horizon Organic also has joined with other food companies, retailers and a coalition of parents to create Eat Smart, Grow Strong, a campaign to help families eat better and help prevent childhood obesity, juvenile diabetes and other diet-related health problems.

We also realize, however, that good and healthy food choices are not an option for many millions of Americans who go hungry. A number of our processing facilities make substantial product donations and cash contributions to combat hunger in their communities through America's Second Harvest and local food banks across the country. Our employees also participate in food drives and other activities benefiting anti-hunger organizations in their communities.

Recognizing hunger concerns reach beyond our country's borders, our WhiteWave Foods division is a proud supporter of the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health, which works to combat hunger and improve human health in developing countries through the use of soy protein.

Education and the Arts

In our communities we support programs that improve the education of and opportunities for children, particularly at-risk children. In Dallas, home of our corporate office, we support the Notre Dame School, which provides a quality education to children ages 6 to 21 with mental disabilities, and facilitates their integration into society.

In New England, we have partnered with organizations such as the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the Connecticut Department of Social Services, A Family for ME (Maine)and the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, to recruit foster families. The Garelick Farms Add Something Fun Tour has been successful in recruiting record numbers of foster families throughout New England since 2003.

We also believe that exposure to the arts - whether through self-created works or through enjoying the works of others - is extremely beneficial to children. The arts can improve thinking and communication skills, build self-confidence and provide creative and healthy means of expression. We have provided funding and support for organizations and facilities that increase children's access, especially at-risk children, to the visual, literary and performing arts.

We are a major supporter of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Young Strings program, which provides talented African American and Hispanic string students with private lessons, mentoring, performance opportunities, concert tickets and instrument loans. Our Oak Farms Dairy division supported the construction of Dallas Latino Cultural Center, which hosts a variety of Latino entertainment and educational programs. Dean Foods also is proud to be a major contributor to the creation of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a family of facilities that will house performances of opera and musical, classic and experimental theater from across the globe. As part of this support, Schepps Dairy is a principal partner in the Dallas Theater Center's Project Discovery, which provides arts accessibility and education programming to Dallas middle and high school students

WhiteWave Foods also believes in the power of teaching kids how to be environmental stewards from a young age. We are a proud sponsor of the Thorne Ecological Institute, an organization that helps connect kids to nature through hands-on environmental education and programs. In addition, Horizon Organic supports the Environmental Media Association and, along with Silk, etown. These organizations work to raise environmental awareness, inspire activism and educate the public about protecting our cultural and natural resources.

For more information, visit www.whitewave.com.

Environmental Stewardship/Conservation

We believe that partnering with our communities means not just supporting them today, but sustaining them for tomorrow. Through our WhiteWave Foods division, we contribute to causes and organizations that further sustainable agriculture, conservation of natural resources, animal welfare and preservation of family farms and rural communities.

We are a proud supporter of organizations such as the Organic Center, Trees for the Future, Beyond Pesticides, Earth Share, National Wildlife Federation and Heifer International.

Our WhiteWave Foods division also is a longtime supporter of alternative energy solutions. It purchases clean wind energy from Bonneville Environmental Foundation to offset 100% of the power used in the production of Silk and Horizon Organic products and the energy used at its headquarters. For the past three years, WhiteWave Foods has won the EPA Green Power Award for industry leadership in support of renewable energy.

You can find more information on wind energy at www.silksoymilk.com or www.horizonorganic.com

Through partnerships and outreach activities, we also are proud to support American family farms, promote organic agriculture and raise public awareness of the health and environmental benefits of organic. Our Silk and Horizon Organic brands sponsor FARM AID® and support its mission to provide America with a safe and healthy food supply.

We also lend vital support to sustainable agriculture organizations including the Organic Farming Research Foundation , which sponsors research into organic farming practices and production systems and educates the public and key decision-makers about organic farming issues; and Holistic Management International, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting land resource management that restores land health and profitability.

Like most companies, we receive many more requests than we can fund. Because our resources are limited, we must make difficult choices about how to allocate them. The most fundamental choice we have made is to concentrate the majority of our giving in focus areas where we believe our grants can make a strategic impact. To help us select organizations from the thousands of requests we receive each year, we have developed guidelines to govern our grant-making. Several principles form the basis of these guidelines:

• With few exceptions, our giving is concentrated in three focus areas: health and nutrition (including hunger), education and the arts and environmental stewardship.
• We prefer to support and participate in a meaningful way with a limited number of organizations that support these three focus areas, rather than spread our limited resources more broadly.
• We prefer programs that provide direct service to individuals and communities in need.
• We prefer to make grants for specific projects with measurable results, rather than for general operating support.
• We look for innovative programs that demonstrate best practices.
• We place special emphasis on supporting organizations that assist children, particularly at-risk children or children with disabilities, or that are dedicated to serving their needs.
• We fund organizations that are fiscally sound and have strong management practice and accountability.
• We support initiatives only in the communities in which we operate and where our employees live and work.

Qualified non-profit organizations may submit proposals to Dean Foods that respond to these philanthropic priorities. Donations are made only to organizations that are classified as 501(c)(3).

Each proposal must contain the following elements:

• A brief (two-page maximum) Summary Statement of the organization's project or program needs. This overview should explain how the proposal meets one or more of our specific focus areas or program areas. It should also note the amount requested, the funding period and any key dates.
• The name of the organization, address, phone number and the name of a contact person familiar with proposal details.
• A program budget detailing the amount requested. Requests should detail all sources of financial support, including amounts committed or pending that might leverage any contribution made by us.
• An audited Financial Statement for the previous year.
• A list of donors (United Way, corporations, foundations, individuals, government individuals and government agencies) to the overall organization, as well as a separate list of donors for the specified program to receive funding.
• A copy of the organization's certificate of tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3).
• Written verification of the organization's federal tax identification number (FEIN).
• A timetable for project implementation, communication and evaluation.
• A brief statement (two-page maximum) of the organization's history, purpose and goals; size of membership and constituency; geographic service area; use of volunteers; and general accomplishments to date.
• A list of officers and board members and their affiliations.
• A copy of the organization's most recent annual report.

To further clarify our review process, we have instituted the following limitations within our contributions program. We generally do not provide support for the following purposes:

• Organizations not registered to operate with a 501(c)(3) tax status in the United States
• General operating support
• Operating support for colleges/universities
• Operating support for high schools or elementary schools; however, restricted grants for arts in education programs are permitted, providing a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization is the grantee
• Endowments
• Amateur athletic teams, e.g. Little League
• Fraternal, veteran or labor organizations
• Named charities or foundations
• Political campaigns
• Political or lobbying organizations, or those supporting the candidacy of a particular individual
• Special events, e.g. fund-raisers, golf outings and dinners
• Benefit tickets or courtesy advertising
• Travel funds
• Religious organizations that serve primarily only their denomination
• Organizations that might in any way pose a conflict with our goals, programs, products or employees

Please send all requests according to the specifications listed to the address below; no phone calls, please. Please allow at least six to eight weeks for consideration of your proposal. You will be notified by phone or in writing if we are able to participate.


Please note that we only facilitate requests at a corporate level from organizations and programs that are national in scope or relevant to the Dallas area (home to our corporate headquarters). We ask that requests for product and funding for organizations serving other geographic areas be directed to our location nearest you. A list of these locations can be found by clicking here.