BEMA will host “BEMA Gives Back,” a service activity for families attending the 2018 Convention, on Saturday, June 23. The event, sponsored by Clif Bar, will enable BEMA attendees to support several organizations in Los Cabos, Mexico, the host community for Convention. The selected organizations include Casa Hogar, Liga Mac, CAM, Tree of Hope, and CIME. These organizations serve special needs children, foster children, and at-risk families.

“BEMA’s Annual Convention offers the perfect occasion to give back to the community.  By extending a hand together, we’re changed as individuals and brought closer as an industry family,” says Rich Berger, VP of engineering, food supply for Clif Bar & Company. “Clif Bar is thrilled to sponsor BEMA’s first service day.  These organizations do important work for those in need and Clif’s core values are perfectly in line with BEMA’s mission to give back.”

BEMA Gives Back will begin with information on each of the organizations which will benefit from the event. Convention attendees will then get to work at several stations organizing first aid supplies, building cribs and bunk beds, painting shoes, assembling math boards and filling back packs with school supplies. “Giving back is very important to me personally and an emphasis for my year as chairman,” says Don Osborne (Intralox), chairman of the board for BEMA. “Service to others is also a great way to continue celebrating BEMA’s 100^th anniversary. We can’t wait to see a few hundred BEMA families at work side-by-side to leave something great behind in Cabo.”

BEMA has a history of providing financial support to the baking industry as well. This support began in 1979 with a contribution to AIB. BEMA is a founding contributor to the Grain Foods Foundation donating $1 million to help start the organization. BEMA’s support of these organizations along with Kansas State University and ABA PEC continues to this day.

BEMA empowers its members to give back to the greater community in other ways. Through BEMA programs, members have donated funds to Crop Hunger Walk and to Heart to Heart International, supporting disaster relief efforts. In addition, the BEMA staff enjoys helping Corbion’s Kansas City team pack holiday food boxes for Harvesters Community Food Network.

Information on how to participate in the service activity along with Convention registration links can be found at www.bema.org/convention-2018/ .