OMAHA, Neb., May 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Although the
end of the school year is just days away for many, not all kids
will be looking forward to summertime. When school is out, nearly
90 percent of children who rely on free or reduced-price meals via
their schools lose that access.1 ConAgra Foods is
raising awareness of the increased risk for child hunger this
summer beginning May 22 through
its 2nd Annual National Hunger Free Summer Day. On this
day, people can kick-start their fight against child hunger by
watching a video to trigger meal donations, volunteering and
learning more about child hunger in their community.
ConAgra Foods partnered with Kid President, Robby Novak, to inspire Americans to take action
so that kids can "be awesome this summer." For every view, like
or share of Kid President's video through
July 31, the ConAgra Foods Foundation
will donate the monetary equivalent of one meal to Feeding America,
the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief organization, up to one
million meals.2 For more than four years, Novak has
dedicated time to ensure kids have access to food––from
volunteering at local soup kitchens in his community to packing
more than 450,000 meals for kids all over the world. He believes
that kids should love every moment of summer and not have to worry
about their next meal.
"Summer is a time when kids who receive free or reduced-price
meals during the school year may be at greater risk to be hungry;
however, child hunger is an issue in every community in our
country, 365 days a year," says Kori
Reed, vice president, ConAgra Foods Foundation and Cause.
"That's why ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation have
been committed to ending child hunger for more than 20 years
through community grants and partnerships, nutrition education for
children and families, donating its food and engaging people across
the country to take action and join us in the fight."
Hunger Free Summer Grants
Half of the ConAgra Foods
Foundation's $10 million commitment
over five years to Feeding America is dedicated to Hunger Free
Summer grants. The ConAgra Foods Foundation is Feeding America's
leadership partner in the fight against child hunger. Now in its
fifth summer, the Hunger Free Summer program has supported the
delivery of 13.8 million meals to children struggling with hunger
when school's out.
"Many people think of summer as a time where kids are carefree,
but, unfortunately, that may not be the reality for kids who won't
receive free or reduced-price meals via their schools," says
Bob Aiken, CEO of Feeding America.
"We're thrilled to partner with the ConAgra Foods Foundation again
this year to help support our network of food banks with their
summer-feeding programs, designed with kids in mind."
This summer, 26 food banks in 18 states will use grants funded
by the ConAgra Foods Foundation––ranging from $20,000 to $50,000––to expand their summer feeding programs,
bringing more healthy meals to more children during the summer.
Each grant recipient will implement either an innovative or
scalable program that will benefit an unmet need or audience to
best serve their community.
"Through the City Harvest Fruit Bowl program, we provide
nutritious snacks to day care, pre-school and after school
programs, some of which transition into day camps during the
summer," says Jilly Stephens,
Executive Director of City Harvest, a grant recipient dedicated to
feeding New York City's hungry
men, women and children. "With the support of Hunger Free Summer
grant, we will deliver more than 130,000 pounds of fresh fruit and
low-fat dairy snacks, free of charge, for some 6,000 children."
Since 1993, through their partnerships with Feeding America,
ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation have provided more
than 355 million pounds of food and invested more than $38 million in capacity building, child hunger
programs and groundbreaking research.
For more information, follow the discussion at
Facebook.com/ChildHungerEndsHere, or follow along on Twitter and
Instagram at @ChildHungerEnds. Additional information on ConAgra
Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation's commitment in the fight
against child hunger is available here.
About ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG)
is one of North America's largest
packaged food companies with branded and private branded food found
in 99 percent of America's households, as well as a strong
commercial foods business serving restaurants and foodservice
operations globally. Consumers can find recognized brands such as
Banquet®, Chef Boyardee®, Egg Beaters®, Healthy Choice®, Hebrew
National®, Hunt's®, Marie
Callender's®, Orville
Redenbacher's®, PAM®, Peter Pan®, Reddi-wip®, Slim Jim®,
Snack Pack® and many other ConAgra Foods brands, along with food
sold by ConAgra Foods under private brand labels, in grocery,
convenience, mass merchandise, club and drug stores. Additionally,
ConAgra Foods supplies frozen potato and sweet potato products as
well as other vegetable, spice, bakery and grain products to
commercial and foodservice customers. ConAgra Foods operates
ReadySetEat.com, an interactive recipe website that provides
consumers with easy dinner recipes and more. For more information,
please visit us at www.conagrafoods.com.
About ConAgra Foods Foundation
The ConAgra Foods
Foundation, through its Nourish Today, Flourish Tomorrow platform,
is dedicated to raising awareness of the nearly 16 million children
in America who are at risk of hunger and live in food insecure
homes where they may not have enough food to live active, healthful
lives. It aggressively pursues sustainable solutions in the fight
against child hunger. And the Foundation is committed to building a
community of people who are passionate about ensuring that all kids
have access to the food and facts they need to eat nutritiously
while living balanced lifestyles and succeeding in school and life.
ConAgra Foods Foundation invests in national and local partnerships
with high-impact, not-for-profit organizations, such as Feeding
America and 4H that take an innovative approach to addressing
needs in the core areas of hunger and nutrition education. For more
information, please visit www.conagrafoods.com
or www.facebook.com/conagrafoods. The ConAgra Foods
Foundation is primarily funded by ConAgra Foods.
About Feeding America
Feeding America is a nationwide
network of more than 200 food banks that leads the fight against
hunger in the United States.
Together, we provide food to more than 37 million people through
61,000 food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters in communities
across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve
food security among the people we serve; educates the public about
the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects
people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and
government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer.
Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit
http://www.feedingamerica.org/. Find us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.
About Kid President
Brad
Montague and Robby Novak are
co-creators of Kid President, the popular web series featured on
Rainn Wilson's SoulPancake YouTube
channel. Together the two have created a movement of joy and fun
and created work seen by tens of millions. Brad and Robby truly
believe that if we make the world better for kids, then the world
will be better for everyone. For more than four years, Brad and
Robby have dedicated time both overseas and here in the U.S. to
ensure kids have access to food – from volunteering at local soup
kitchens in their hometown to packing more than 450,000 meals for
kids all over the world to working with organizations like UNICEF
and Rice Bowls. They believe that kids should simply focus on being
awesome and not have to worry about their next meal, especially
right here in our backyard. With a passion for fostering creativity
and compassion in young people, Brad is also the director of GO!
Camp, an experience for teenagers who want to change the world.
Robby is in fourth grade. He likes basketball, football, soccer and
making the world better. The two live and work in Tennessee.
1 U.S. Department of
Agriculture/FNS
2 For every view, like or share of this Kid
President video recorded on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr
and Google+ from May 22, 2014 through
July 31, 2014, the ConAgra Foods
Foundation will donate 11.1 cents,
the cost for Feeding America to provide one meal through its
network of local food banks. Minimum donation of 10,000
meals ($11,111). Maximum donation of
one million meals ($111,111). Valid
in U.S. only.
SOURCE ConAgra Foods