EcoShield’s Exterminate Hunger to Help Food-Insecure Communities

CHANDLER, Ariz. – For the past 16 years, EcoShield Pest Control, Chandler, Ariz., has been giving back to the communities it services in a way that goes beyond pest control.

Greg Nygren and Doug Cardon, co-founders of EcoShield, were brainstorming on how the company’s local branches could make a positive impact in their communities. After some reflection and hearing stories of their technicians’ experiences, the two started Exterminate Hunger.

In 2023, according to the USDA, 47.4 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, which is an issue Nygren and Cardon wanted to address. As a result, Exterminate Hunger was born — an annual company initiative where technicians collect donations from customers to then drop off themselves at partnering food pantries.

“That was kind of the vision… We can make it really easy for people to give food,” Nygren said. “We could pick it up and drop it off. We’ve got vehicles all over the town.”

EcoShield Pest Control 

The initiative encourages EcoShield branches topartner with local food banks to meet their specific needs in each community. Items fromcanned foodto baby formula are donated each year. There are 36 locations to drop off donations and 22 states where the initiative is present, the company said.

“We, even in the home office, participate as well,” Cardon said. “They’re pretty competitive, so they want to make sure there’s a lot of donations.”

Last year, Exterminate Hunger started on Nov. 5 and ended on Dec. 6, but this year the goal is to start in mid-October to keep up with the growing demand.

Exterminate Hunger’s success may be partially due to how it fits in with the company culture, Cardon said.

“We talk about [going] ‘above and beyond,’ ‘people over pests,’” he said. “This aligned perfectly with that culture.”

The initiative mainly targets EcoShield’s customers to donate, but Nygren said he could see Exterminate Hunger expand further into the pest control industry.

“We could see in the future where this doesn’t necessarily have to be an EcoShield exclusive thing,” Nygren said. “The pest control industry is such a big community, and I’m sure there’s other companies that do other things to give back, too, but it would be something in the future we’d love to try.”

As much as Exterminate Hunger means to the company’s co-founders, it means just as much to the employees who participate, Nygren said.

“As much as the good that this does for the people who need the food, it does just as much good for our people to be part of it,” he said. “When you serve and you give, you’re just as blessed as the people that are  receiving.”

People are able to bring food, pantry supplies, hygiene and baby items to any EcoShield branch to be donated to a local food pantry during the Exterminate Hunger initiative. Visit https://www.exterminatehunger.com/ to learn more.