Campbell Soup Company and The Salvation Army Host Community Holiday Dinner

In the spirit of the holiday season, Campbell Soup Company and The Salvation Army partnered to host the inaugural Community Holiday Dinner in the new Campbell Healthy Community Kitchen at the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Camden on Wednesday, December 10th. At this special event, Campbell chefs prepared and cooked a buffet-style holiday meal for more than 200 members of the Camden community. Volunteers and employees from The Salvation Army in Camden as well as Campbell employees were on hand to help serve the meal.

Campbell’s Healthy Community Kitchen, which is housed in the Kroc Center’s Town Plaza, served as the backdrop for this special meal for the residents of Camden. In 2012, Campbell committed $500,000 to the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Camden for its commercial kitchen – the Campbell Healthy Community Kitchen. The kitchen will serve thousands of daily meals and snacks to approximately 350,000 visitors annually. Campbell has also launched a strategic volunteer relationship with the Kroc Center which will include training of the Center’s culinary staff, cooking demonstrations for youth and adult center members as well as special events such as the holiday meal.

“Campbell is proud to partner with The Salvation Army to open the Camden Healthy Community Kitchen,” said Dave Stangis, Campbell’s Vice President, Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility. “Our Campbell Chefs, staff of nutrition experts and many other Campbell employees will be a constant presence here at the Kitchen – teaching, serving and mentoring the future of our community.”

The meal featured: sliced turkey with all the trimmings; delicious side dishes including mashed potatoes, Campbell’s green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, orange cranberry compote, coleslaw, Pepperidge Farm stuffing and Bolthouse Farms carrots; and Pepperidge Farm rolls and homemade cornbread with butter. In addition to the dinner meal, guest also enjoyed beverages and a full spread of desserts, which included traditional pumpkin pie with whipped cream, Pepperidge Farm Swirl Bread Pudding with ice cream and Pepperidge Farm cookies.

“The holidays are about giving – giving time, giving love, giving presents, giving back to the community,” said Major Pain Cain, Kroc Center Administrator. “Our partnership with Campbell Soup Company to co-sponsor this extraordinary dinner allows us to give back to the community in a very special way. We hope that this meal can help spread joy and happiness during an otherwise busy holiday season.”

This special event is one of many The Salvation Army is hosting at the Kroc Center to benefit members of the community throughout the holiday season. For more information about the Kroc Center or additional holiday events, kindly visit: www.camdenkroccenter.org.

Captions:

Salvation Army Campbell Soup Community Dinner 1.jpg – Campbell’s Senior Chef Richard Calladonato greets families and community members during the Community Holiday Dinner at the Kroc Center.

Salvation Army Campbell Soup Community Dinner 2.jpg – The Salvation Army’s Major Paul Cain, Kroc Center Administrator, greets families and community members during the Community Holiday Dinner at the Kroc Center.

Photo Credit: Dustin DeYoe PHOTOGRAPHY

About the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center:
After receiving a bequest of $1.6 billion from the estate of Mrs. Joan Kroc, The Salvation Army chose Camden as one of 26 locations to receive funds to build a Kroc Center in 2006. The Kroc Center is a 120,000-square-foot state-of-the-art center on a 24-acre campus, providing recreational, health, educational, cultural, family and spiritual programming to the Camden community. The facility includes a black box theater, water park, pool, commercial kitchen, youth and senior centers, chapel, field house, fitness center, food pantry, early childhood education center and much more. Outdoor amenities include a soccer/football field and two baseball/softball fields. Visit camdenkroccenter.org for more information.

About Campbell Soup Company:
Campbell (NYSE: CPB) makes real food that matters for life’s moments, from high-quality soups and simple meals to snacks and healthy beverages. For generations, people have trusted Campbell to provide authentic, flavorful and readily available foods and beverages that connect them to each other, to warm memories and to what’s important today. Led by its iconic Campbell’s brand, the company’s portfolio includes Pepperidge Farm, Goldfish, Bolthouse Farms, V8, Swanson, Prego, Pace, Plum Organics, Arnott’s, Tim Tam, Royal Dansk and Kjeldsens. Founded in 1869, Campbell has a heritage of giving back and acting as a good steward of the planet’s natural resources. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. For more information, visit www.campbellsoupcompany.com or follow company news on Twitter via @CampbellSoupCo.