Seven Organizations Unite to Pick a Fight Against Hunger

OMAHA, Neb., Dec. 1, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Just in time for #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to giving back, the ConAgra Foods Foundation today unveiled Hunger Volunteer Connection. This initiative seeks to arm volunteers and organizations with tools to take action to end hunger in the U.S., an issue that impacts 48 million people across the country.¹

HungerVolunteerConnection.org, the initiative’s companion website, is a first-of-its-kind one-stop shop, bringing together volunteer opportunities and tools to help organizations and individuals find ways to end hunger in their own communities. One of the site’s key features is the largest searchable source of U.S. volunteer listings to fight hunger, which is often referred to as “food insecurity” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It also includes a suite of tools to help organizations enlist skills-based volunteers, benchmark best practices and more.

“After two decades of investing in programs and research to put solutions to child hunger within reach, we have learned that the more people become aware of the severity of food insecurity, the more they want to help,” said Kori Reed, vice president, Cause and Foundation, ConAgra Foods. “Volunteers are often unclear about how to get involved. This disconnect creates a large gap in untapped support for organizations. There is now a way to address that gap by connecting people to opportunities and organizations to tools to engage more volunteers – it’s HungerVolunteerConnection.org.”

During the past year, the ConAgra Foods Foundation convened six national organizations with expertise in volunteerism, civic engagement and hunger to collaborate – with the Foundation and with each other – and align with a singular goal of infusing 500,000 hours of volunteer service in the fight against hunger by September 2018, with at least half of the hours classified as strategic, more impactful service.

“The power of the initiative lies in the collaboration of the partners,” said Reed. “Each organization is respected for its own mission-based work. Together, we set to alter engagement in the hunger issue, create a call to action, as well as magnify how volunteerism can make a difference and pave the way for greater results and impact.”

As part of the initiative, partner organizations worked in teams to create content, design and develop a new suite of tools, and pilot-test complementary national webinars as well as in-person trainings in select cities. The combination of training and tools, are designed to enhance an organization’s capabilities to engage youth and families; initiate citywide efforts; and bolster skills-based volunteering and advocacy on issues connected to hunger. In the process, the partners have built strong relationships and continue to meet regularly to leverage their collective expertise toward making a difference in the hunger space.

The HVC collaborating partners are:

• Alliance to End Hunger: engages diverse institutions and organization to build the public and political will to end hunger. www.alliancetoendhunger.org
• Cities of Service: works with mayors and other local government leaders to address city challenges through citizen engagement and volunteerism. www.citiesofservice.org
• New York City Coalition Against Hunger: an advocacy organization focused on moving families beyond the soup kitchen to sustainable solutions. www.nyccah.org  
• Points of Light: the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service – engages millions of people to take action that is changing the world. www.pointsoflight.org
• Taproot Foundation: expert in skills-based volunteering, drives social change by leading, mobilizing, and engaging professionals in pro bono service. www.taprootfoundation.org
• VolunteerMatch: the web’s largest volunteer engagement network, connecting good people with good causes. www.volunteermatch.org 

To learn more, visit HungerVolunteerConnection.org. To join the conversation, follow #Collaborate4Good on social media.

About ConAgra Foods Foundation

The ConAgra Foods Foundation aims to improve the quality of life of millions of families by taking action to solve child hunger. In partnership with leading anti-hunger organizations, we aggressively pursue sustainable solutions and commit 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 to live balanced lives and succeed in school and life. www.conagrafoods.com/our-commitment/child-hunger/conagra-foods-foundation/overview

About ConAgra Foods 

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE:CAG) is one of North America's largest packaged food companies with branded and private label 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 Marie Callender's®, Healthy Choice®, Slim Jim®, Hebrew National®, Orville Redenbacher's®, Peter Pan®, Reddi-wip®, PAM®, Snack Pack®, Banquet®, Chef Boyardee®, Egg Beaters®, Hunt’s® and many other ConAgra Foods brands, along with food sold by ConAgra Foods under private 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, and bakery 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.

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¹_{Household Food Security in the United States in 2014, ERR-194, USDA, Economic Research Service (Sept. 2015).}