Food Bank Receives Grant To Fight Summer Hunger

More than 1 in 4 Georgia children live in food insecure households. When schools are closed for summer, kids have less access to nutritious meals as many rely on free or reduced-price school breakfast and lunch. This is why Feeding America®, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization, and ConAgra Foods Foundation have partnered to provide more meals to kids when they need them most through the Hunger-Free Summer program. The Atlanta Community Food Bank, a Feeding America member food bank, is one of 27 food banks that have received a Hunger-Free Summer grant, funded by the ConAgra Foods Foundation.

“Summer can be an especially hard time for families who already are struggling to make ends meet,” said Kyle Waide, CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. “We are thankful to ConAgra Foods Foundation for its support of the Hunger-Free Summer program. Working together, we will be able to support more families in greater Atlanta and north Georgia by ensuring their children have access to healthy meals.”

According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, when school lets out across the country, 18 million children who rely on free or reduced-price school meals are left without access to the nutritious meals the nourish them during the school year. For the seventh consecutive summer, more than 20 communities across the country will have support to strengthen their summer feeding programs from ConAgra Foods Foundation which has been a dedicated supporter of Feeding America and the fight against child hunger for over 20 years.

“This initiative extends our reach with the Feeding America network and directs support to the organizations that work directly in the communities to impact the significant issue of food insecurity across the country,” says Robert Rizzo, ConAgra Foods Foundation. “Through the distribution of additional summertime meals, we hope to have a positive impact on the lives of children, giving them the fuel they need to grow, learn and play, so that they can reach their full potential.”

The Hunger-Free Summer grant will enable the Atlanta Community Food Bank to hold School Mobile Food Pantry distributions throughout the summer for the first time in the program’s history. To learn more about the food bank visit acfb.org. To find a summer feeding site in your community, text FoodGA to 877 877.

About The Atlanta Community Food Bank

The Atlanta Community Food Bank is one of the largest hunger relief organizations in the Southeast, supporting a network of 600 partner nonprofits - community and faith-based organizations - across 29 counties in greater Atlanta and north Georgia. Together, we connect over 750,000 people each year with more than 67 million pounds of food – or more than 57 million meals. But our work isn’t just about food – it’s about community change. We engage, educate and empower the community to fight hunger. The transformational change we catalyze in the community leads to transformational change in the lives of our clients.

About ConAgra Foods Foundations’ Hunger-Free Summer Grants

This summer, 27 Feeding America food banks in 21 states will receive Hunger-Free Summer grants, funded by the ConAgra Foods Foundation and distributed by Feeding America, to start new or expand existing summer feeding programs. These grants totaling $700,000––ranging from $20,000 to $40,000

each––will allow the food banks to serve food in school libraries during the summer months, provide meals to kindergarteners at summer camp, deliver boxes of food to families in need and beyond.

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 the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America.