By Gina Christian • Posted December 23, 2020

A race car driver and technology entrepreneur has teamed up with the Philadelphia Archdiocese to bring food insecurity to the finish line.

With an estimated 50 million U.S. residents now at risk for pandemic-related hunger, “what better way to help with that than food?” said John McAleer, founder and CEO of Convergence Acceleration Solutions (CAS) Group.

The Atlanta-based consulting firm has just donated $50,000 to the community food program operated by archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services (NDS). The funds will help restock NDS’s network of over 50 food cupboards throughout the five-county metropolitan area, while purchasing critically needed meals for direct distribution by NDS.

As part of the initiative, the CAS Group has also pledged to match all donations made to NDS through Jan. 18, 2021 dollar-for-dollar, up to the $50,000 amount. Contributions can be submitted online by visiting https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=283062 and including “CAS Challenge” in the “How did you hear about us?” comment box.

Although headquartered in Georgia, McAleer – a licensed racer whose firm sponsors the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials, paralympic snowboarder Brittani Coury and the record-setting Johan Schwarz BMW performance racing team – said he and his colleagues “want to make Philadelphia a priority” in their charitable outreach, since Center City-based Comcast is a CAS Group client.

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“We’re very well aligned with them,” said McAleer, noting that the CAS Group focuses on “leaving a community in a better place than where we found it.”

As a for-profit, private company that develops digital businesses, telecommunications architecture and strategies for blockchain (the technology behind bitcoin currency), “we’ve always had an ethos of capitalism with a conscience,” he said.

“You don’t just run a business for bottom-line profit,” said McAleer. “One of the key tenets of capitalism is maximizing shareholder value, but ‘value’ is an all-encompassing word.”

Ensuring “a good quality of life for employees” and for surrounding communities is vital to the CAS Group’s operations, he said.

The organization’s “lean and Spartan” strategy, which doesn’t “waste money on sales, advertising and marketing,” frees up revenue to support nonprofits, said McAleer, who commended NDS’s “very low administration costs and grassroots approach” to countering hunger.

Long-running partnerships with parishes, schools, vendors, numerous government entities and fellow hunger relief organizations have enabled NDS to respond quickly to increased demand for emergency aid during the pandemic. Staff and volunteers routinely log hundreds of hours in food collection and distribution at sites throughout the archdiocese.

NDS executive director Lizanne Hagedorn said she was grateful for the CAS Group’s assistance.

“At this very critical time, when so many people are struggling to make ends meet, a donation of this magnitude can ease some of the suffering of those in our own communities,” said Hagedorn.

“NDS is hyper-focused on this issue,” said McAleer. “We’re going to have a lot of impact working with them.”

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To contribute to the CAS Group’s $50,000 matching gift campaign for archdiocesan Nutritional Development Services (NDS), visit https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=283062 and include “CAS Challenge” in the “How did you hear about us?” comment box when submitting your donation.