ConAgra Foods And Kid President Jump Start Hunger Free Summer

OMAHA, NE, May 23, 2014 /3BL Media/ — 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 meals² 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.