$20,000 Hunger-Free Summer Grant Awarded to the Food Bank of South Jersey
MCA Recording Artist Josh Kelley Partners with the ConAgra Foods Foundation and Feeding America to Volunteers in Pennsauken, N.J.
Pennsauken, N.J. – July 28, 2011 – This summer, the Food Bank of South Jersey won a $20,000 Hunger-Free Summer grant from the ConAgra Foods ® Foundation and Feeding America® to help fight child hunger in the area served by the food bank. The Hunger-Free Summer grant will help the Food Bank of South Jersey expand its Summer Feeding Program to six new sites, allowing them to deliver more meals to more children in need.
During the summer, about 18 million children nationally may be at an increased risk of hunger because they do not have access to the free and reduced-priced meals offered during the school year nor are they enrolled in summer meal programs. In the area served by the Food Bank of South Jersey, new Feeding America data shows that 57,000 children are facing hunger.
To bring even more attention to this issue, country singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is visiting food banks across the country to raise awareness of childhood hunger in the United States. On Thursday, July 28, Kelley will be in New Jersey at one of the Food Bank of South Jersey’s summer food program sites, Boys & Girls Club of Gloucester County. While visiting the Boys & Girls Club, Kelley plans to volunteer his time by serving lunch and singing with the children.
"Visiting these Hunger-Free Summer grant recipient sites has been incredibly rewarding," said Kelley. "I had no idea the severity of child hunger in the United States until this tour. As a new dad, I feel closer to this issue than ever before and believe it is unacceptable that children in our country don’t always know where their next meal is coming from. I am proud to be visiting sites like the Boys and Girls Club of Gloucester County to spend time with the kids, and also celebrate the volunteers and food bank staff members who are making great strides in an effort toward ending child hunger in their communities."
"In the counties we serve, nearly 20 percent of children are struggling with hunger. Receiving this Hunger-Free Summer grant from ConAgra Foods Foundation and Feeding America has allowed us to expand our reach to six new sites that can serve about 275 children each day in addition to our existing 11 sites that serve about 925 children. We are extremely grateful for the generosity and ongoing support of both the ConAgra Foods Foundation and Feeding America," said Valerie Brown Traore, CEO of Food Bank of South Jersey.
The goal of the Hunger-Free Summer program is to help participating Feeding America network food banks serve an additional one million meals and feed 10,000 more children through their unique and innovative, community-based programs. ConAgra Foods Foundation’s funding helps ensure that food banks will have the means to help more children get the nutritious foods they need, but may not have access to because of financial difficulties their families face. The need for assistance is that much greater during summer months when children are no longer receiving free or reduced-priced meals through the USDA’s school lunch and breakfast programs.
"Summer time is supposed to be a chance for kids to be kids, but for millions of children, summer is a time when they may be at an increased risk of hunger because they don’t have access to free and reduced price meals at school," said Kori Reed, vice president of Foundation and Cause at ConAgra Foods. "Thanks to the Hunger-Free Summer grant, the Food Bank of South Jersey has expanded their summer meal program to six new sites, meaning more children will receive more meals in the communities the food bank serves; that’s a win-win for kids facing hunger."
For the complete list of 2011 Hunger-Free Summer grant recipients or to learn more about the program, visit HungerFreeSummer.org.
About the Food Bank of South Jersey
The Food Bank of South Jersey is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit food distribution center that provides perishable and shelf stable food to more than 100,000 adults, seniors and children that are at risk of going hungry in South Jersey. The largest and only nonprofit food distribution center devoted entirely to South Jersey, the Food Bank of South Jersey has distributed over 100 million pounds of food – the equivalent of 84 million meals since its inception in 1985. For more information, please visit: www.foodbanksj.org.
About Feeding America
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org; find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica; or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.
About ConAgra Foods Foundation
The ConAgra Foods Foundation, through its Nourish Today, Flourish Tomorrow platform, is dedicated to raising awareness of the nearly 17 million children in America who are at risk of hunger and don't 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, that take an innovative approach to addressing needs in the core areas of hunger and nutrition education. For more information, please visit www.conagrafoodsfoundation.org or www.facebook.com/ConAgraFoodsFoundation. The ConAgra Foods Foundation is funded solely by ConAgra Foods.
Media Contacts:
Angie Amberg
Office: 314-982-8646
angie.amberg@fleishman.com
Stephanie Childs
Office: 402-240-6258
stephanie.childs@conagrafoods.com
