Raytheon Celebrates 30 Years as Sponsor of The Walk for Hunger

Raytheon Celebrates 30 Years as Sponsor of The Walk for Hunger
In past five years, employees and Company have provided almost a half million dollars for hunger relief.

Boston (April 12, 2012) -  Project Bread’s 44th Walk for Hunger on Sunday, May 6,  marks the 30th year that families from Raytheon Company will don their signature bright red T-shirts and walk the scenic 20 miles through Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, and Cambridge to help their neighbors in need.

Raytheon Company’s consistent support of the Walk makes them the longest-running sponsor of an event that boasts many long-term relationships, including WHDH-TV’s 27 years, KISS 108’s 22 years, and the MBTA’s 19 years.

The funds Raytheon families raise through The Walk for Hunger allows Project Bread to support the widest range of hunger relief and prevention programs in the state — by providing grants and technical support to more than 450 emergency programs, schools, summer programs, community health centers, farmers’ markets, community suppers, home care organizations, and other programs. Thanks to generous contributors like Raytheon, Project Bread–funded emergency food programs provided 65.2 million meals to hungry people last year alone.

“As a 30-year sponsor, Raytheon has a generation of support behind Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger,” said Pam Wickham, Raytheon vice president of Corporate Affairs and Communications.  “Since 1983, hundreds of our employees have rallied around this cause by donating to, and walking in, the event. Volunteerism is a key attribute of our culture. Each year, we are inspired by one another as we join forces with our colleagues, neighbors, and community partners to support the battle against hunger in Massachusetts.”

One local Raytheon employee who has demonstrated year-after-year commitment to ending hunger in Massachusetts is Gary White from Salem, NH. Now in his 14th year as a participant in the Walk, White has raised more than $3,000 as part of the large Raytheon team. He is proud to be a Heart & Sole Walker, meaning he has raised more than $500 each Walk.

"When I started attending the Paulist Center, it did not take long to see their commitment to social justice. One of their efforts was the Walk for Hunger. I have always believed that since this country has so much, no one should ever go to bed hungry. My support has varied from actually walking many years to volunteering at a checkpoint sponsored by Raytheon. I have missed only one or two years where I have either been on business travel or sick but never missed financially donating myself and/or supporting friends who walk."

In the last five years, the Raytheon team, which averages 220 employees and their families a year, has a raised $335,065. During that same time Raytheon provided an additional $150,000 in sponsorship and matching funds for a grand total of $485,065 to help hungry families around the state.  This year, the total is expected to top the half-million mark.

“When I think of Raytheon, I think ‘commitment,’” said Ellen Parker, executive director of Project Bread. “We are grateful for the generosity, tenacity, and grit they’ve demonstrated over the past thirty years in the fight against hunger. Their consistent support has given us the courage to take hunger relief into exciting new areas, like healthy food in low-income schools and community programs, where the solution is seamless and invisible to children — as it should be.”

About Project Bread
As the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. Through The Walk for Hunger, the oldest continual pledge walk in the country, Project Bread provides millions of dollars each year in privately donated funds to support hunger relief through emergency programs, schools, community health centers, farmers’ markets, community suppers, home care organizations, and other programs that protect the individual and strengthen our community food security. The Walk’s flagship sponsor is Freihofer’s Baking Company; its participating sponsors include Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, and Raytheon Company. For more information, visit www.projectbread.org, www.facebook.com/projectbread, or www.twitter.com/walkforhunger.

About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2011 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security, and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 90 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 71,000 people worldwide. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter at @raytheon.