Our History
The roots of the ConAgra Foods Foundation date back to 1976 when ConAgra Foods, Inc., the primary funder of the Foundation, started the charitable entity to support communities where ConAgra Foods employees live and work.
In 1993, ConAgra Foods and the Foundation started working with Feeding America, formerly known as America’s Second Harvest, donating both food and funds to the organization. Six years later, the company formed its Feeding Children Better initiative, focused solely on ending child hunger in the United States. To date, ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation have provided nearly 247 million pounds of food to families in need and invested $35 million in programs to combat child hunger.
In 2002, ConAgra Foods also stepped up to the plate to match the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s commitment of 9 million pounds of food for summertime feeding programs for children. The company exceeded the match, contributing 15 million pounds of food. At the time, no other food manufacturer had ever made such a bold commitment in support of feeding hungry children in America.
In 2003, the Foundation’s Feeding Children Better initiative received a Golden Halo award for its partnership with Feeding America, then known as America’s Second Harvest. With the goal of helping end child hunger, a three-pronged strategy was developed to get food to children in need through 100 Kids Cafes, repairing breakdowns in food distribution, and raising national awareness about child hunger through a public service campaign with the Ad Council. During this time, the Foundation also sponsored research conducted by Brandeis University’s Center on Hunger and Poverty, which demonstrated the negative impact food insecurity and hunger have on children.
Today, ConAgra Foods’ continued partnership with Feeding America is the largest corporate initiative among the Feeding America’s donors dedicated solely to fighting child hunger. ConAgra Foods is the first corporate partner to comprehensively fund child hunger programs nationwide. Those programs include:
First to fund the Kids Cafe program nationwide, supporting more than 250 sites that provide kids with a safe place to go after school to do homework and eat a free meal
First to create a national program for vehicle grants for Feeding America’s network of food banks, enabling transportation of food from warehouses to the distribution sites where food is most needed
First to direct funding toward the national Simplified Summer Food Service Program – making sure that kids who rely on the federal free lunch and breakfast program during the school year don’t go hungry over the summer
First to fund Child Hunger Research – specifically State-By-State Child Hunger Statistics – helping better understand the problem to find a sustainable solution
Leader in building the technology infrastructure for Feeding America to operate more efficiently and ultimately stretch every dollar further
Hunger by the Numbers
One in five children is struggling with hunger in America. In some U.S. counties though, that number is as high as one in two Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap illustrates the reality of hunger in communities nationwide.
No Kid Hungry
We believe no child in America should go hungry. Take the No Kid Hungry Pledge today and add your voice to the community of people passionate about ending childhood hunger in America.
Apply for a Grant
Want to apply for a grant from the ConAgra Foods Foundation? Learn about the application process and the criteria the ConAgra Foods Foundation uses to evaluate grant applications here.
