Ford Motor Company and Newman's Own Donate Refrigerated Truck and Food to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJan 17, 2012—RALEIGH, NC

Innovative Partnership Reaches Milestone of 6.7 Million Miles Traveled and Nearly 176 Million Meals Delivered Nationwide

Raleigh, NC (January 17, 2012) – Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is receiving a new refrigerated truck filled with food as part of an unique, 12-year ”Partnership for Hunger Relief” among Ford Motor Company, Newman’s Own, Inc. and Feeding America. The partnership began when the late Paul Newman wrote Bill Ford, Jr., then the CEO of Ford Motor Company, to suggest a new initiative focused on providing fresh produce and other perishables to individuals facing hunger in rural America. They put this idea into action by donating refrigerated Ford trucks filled with an assortment of Newman’s Own products to Feeding America.

As the partnership celebrates its 12th anniversary, Ford is donating another five trucks, including a truck to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. The new refrigerated truck will be used to deliver food throughout the Triangle to people who are at risk of hunger. Today, 14.8% of all North Carolinians face food insecurity, fifth highest in the nation. “Right here in the Triangle, one in five children is hungry. What is even more heartbreaking, for children under the age of five years old the number jumps to one in four,” said Jill Staton Bullard, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. “We believe hunger is unacceptable. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle pioneers innovative, transformative solutions designed to end hunger in our community. We are thrilled Newman’s Own and Ford Motor Company are partnering with us! This new truck will help us provide healthy nutritious food to more children, families and seniors throughout the Triangle. Thank you!” Today, the new truck makes its first delivery of healthy, nutritious fresh food to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Wake Forest Mobile Market. This free mobile market serves more than 260 hungry individuals and families facing food insecurity each month. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle hosts more than 30 Mobile Markets each month in our seven county service area. The donation of the new truck by Newman’s Own and Ford Motor Company will make it possible to expand IFFS’ Mobile Markets in the Triangle.

A total of 103 vehicles in all 50 states have been donated since the partnership began in 2000. The donated trucks have traveled a combined total of more than 6.7 million miles and have distributed over 169 million pounds of food, the equivalent of 176 million meals, to hard to reach areas. The refrigerated trucks allow delivery of fresh and nutritious food to hard to reach communities that are often underserved. Donated produce, meat and dairy products cannot be delivered to remote areas unless refrigerated trucks are available for long delivery routes. "Ford Motor Company has remained committed to playing a role in addressing hunger relief year after year,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “Through this unique partnership, our donated trucks have delivered more than 176 million meals to families across the country.” "More than 12 years ago Paul Newman realized there was a great need to get nutritious food more broadly distributed. With 49 million people facing hunger, we are glad this program continues to help make a difference, especially in the current economic environment,” said Tom Indoe, president and chief operating officer of Newman’s Own, Inc. Other food banks receiving trucks are: Atlanta Community Food Bank (Atlanta, GA), Dare to Care Food Bank (Louisville, KY), Harry Chapin Food Bank of South Florida (Fort Myers, FL), and Josephine County Food Bank (Grants Pass, OR). Feeding America® is the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, providing food to people in rural, urban and suburban communities. Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com. Based in Westport, CT, the charitable mission of Newman’s Own is expressed in its Company motto: “Shameless exploitation in pursuit of the Common Good.” The Newman’s Own Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to donate all after tax net profits from its products and related royalties for educational and charitable purposes.

ABOUT INTER-FAITH FOOD SHUTTLE Inter-Faith Food Shuttle pioneers innovative, transformative solutions designed to end hunger in our community. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is a non-traditional food bank of Feeding America and a United Way Agency of Excellence. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is North Carolina’s Share Our Strength partner agency. Visit. Be part of the solution, hold a food drive, volunteer, and donate. To help end hunger in our community, go to www.foodshuttle.org or call 919.250.0043.

For more information contact: Jill Staton Bullard (919) 250-0043 Jill@FoodShuttle.org

Agencies Served and Pounds Distributed at Turkey Takeout by Inter-Faith Food Shuttle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov 17, 2011—

LIST OF RECIPIENT AGENCIES & POUNDS OF FOOD

DISTRIBUTED BY INTER-FAITH FOOD SHUTTLE AT TURKEY TAKEOUT 

Raleigh, NC - Today, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle held its 5th annual “Turkey Takeout” event  and distributed 500 turkeys, fresh produce, bread and pies to partner agencies and pantries for families this Thanksgiving.

Food Distributed

• 500 Turkeys
• 1,000 lbs Green Beans
• 7,000 lbs Sweet Potatoes
• 1,350 lbs Cabbage
• 1,000 lbs Collards
• 750 lbs Croissants
• 625 lbs Desserts

List of Recipient Agencies

•  Alliance of Aids Svc – Durham
• Community Helpers – Raleigh
• Catholic Parish Outreach – Raleigh
• DAPPA – Johnston
• Edgerton Memorial UMC - Johnston
• EL Vinculo - Chatham
• Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry - Johnston
• Family Provider Network – Raleigh
• Garner Area Ministries – O/Raleigh
• Juniper Level - Raleigh
• New Jerusalem Pentecostal – Nash
• North Raleigh Ministries – Raleigh
• Open Door Ministries -  Raleigh
• Passage Home - Raleigh
• Positive Generation Development – Edgecombe
• Regeneration Development – Edgecombe
• Rise & Shine Ministries – Durham
• Southern High School Pantry – Durham
• St. Ambrose - Raleigh
• Centro/Stoneybrook - Raleigh
• Tarboro Community Outreach – Edgecombe
• Under One Roof - Raleigh
• Wake Relief – Raleigh
• West Durham Baptist – Durham
• With Love from Jesus – Raleigh

Event Details

Who: Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, partner non-profit agencies and people living with food hardship; major food donations from U.S. Foods and Fords Produce Company.

 What:“Turkey Takeout” distributed more than 500 Thanksgiving family-sized meals

Where: Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, 1001 Blair Drive Raleigh, NC

When: Thursday before Thanksgiving, November 17, 2011between 11AM – 1PM

 How: Pre-approved agencies and pantries sent representatives to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle to pick up the meals and distribute to people living with food hardship. Fords Produce and U.S. Foods provided 2,350 pounds of vegetables (cabbage & green beans), Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's field gleaning provided 8,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and collards to pair with the 500 turkeys, pies and bread also provided by the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

Why:Feeding America, which Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is a member food bank, released earlier this year that 1 in 4 children are hungry here in the Triangle.  Without this distribution of food, hundreds of people in the community would go without a holiday meal.

“These tough economic times make Inter-Faith Food Shuttle work even harder to end hunger,” said Jill Staton Bullard, co-founder and executive director of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. “We are thrilled to be able to distribute holiday food for 500 families and are grateful to U.S. Foods and Fords Produce for donating fresh produce.”

To find out how to help end hunger in our community, go to www.foodshuttle.org or call 919.250.0043.

# # #

ABOUT INTER-FAITH FOOD SHUTTLE

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle pioneers innovative, transformative solutions designed to end hunger in our community. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is a non-traditional food bank of Feeding America and a United Way Agency of Excellence. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is North Carolina’s Share Our Strength partner agency.  Visit.  Be part of the solution, hold a food drive, volunteer, and donate.  For more information visit www.foodshuttle.org

Contact: Melissa Wajnert Hartzell office (919) 250-0043 cell (919) 414-2069

 

Piebird's Chef Arthur Wins Iron Carrot Award at "Lunch In"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct 14, 2011—RALEIGH, NC

Press Release: PieBird's Chef Arthurs Wins Iron Carrot Award at "Lunch In"

Photo: Culinary Job Training Students Prepare Carrots for Iron Carrot Award Lunch In.

RALEIGH, N.C. (October 14, 2011)—Chef Ruby Arthur of PieBird Restaurant was awarded the Iron Carrot at Lunch In, an Iron Chef-style competition held at Hunter Elementary School yesterday, for her winning healthy lunch creation featuring carrots, the secret ingredient. Chef Arthur prevailed over Chef Chad McIntyre of Market Restaurant in a close competition to win over the taste buds of six student judges and one teacher in the second Lunch In event held in Wake County.

Sponsored by Advocates for Health in Action (AHA), Lunch In is designed to raise awareness and engage the community to advocate for fresh, local healthy school lunches in Wake County. “It was great to see so many kids and their families enjoying healthy, local food!” said Laura Aiken, director of AHA and community outreach for WakeMed. “Educating them about the foods available locally in Wake County and how we can work together to get more local foods into schools is what Lunch In is all about.”

Working in the school kitchen for one hour, Chef Arthur prepared a vegetable and ground beef ragout with a butternut squash and carrot puree, along with an herb salad of carrot greens, arugula, thyme and rosemary. Chef McIntyre prepared an herbed carrot meatloaf with homemade ketchup, white sweet potato tater tots, a beet, carrot and parsley pasta salad, and a carrot shortbread cookie.

Hunter students had participated in a healthy recipe contest previously, and one winner from each grade was selected to serve as a judge in the Iron Carrot competition. The judges agreed all the foods were winners in the close competition and that it was hard to choose the best dish.

Hunter students and their families enjoyed sampling local food, gathered healthy meal and snack ideas, created vegetable sculptures, learned about school meals and decorated paper plates to send to the N.C. General Assembly urging legislators to support improving child nutrition in schools.

AHA is working with a team of volunteers in the community to make fresh, local, and healthy food choices an integral part of Wake County students’ school day. AHA held the first Lunch In last March at Underwood Elementary School and will organize an additional event at another Wake County school soon. AHA is developing a toolkit to enable schools to plan their own Lunch In events to engage students and the entire school community in learning about healthy, local foods and advocating for more local food in schools. “Engaging community members helped make Lunch In such a great event,” Aiken said.

About Advocates for Health in Action

Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) fosters and supports community efforts to make healthy eating and physical activity the way of life in Wake County. The AHA collaborative of more than 50 diverse organizations and community members is working to achieve this mission by shaping policy and environments that ensure affordable access to healthful foods and physical activity for all community members. More information is available at www.AdvocatesForHealthInAction.org.

Pork Chop Shop to Fight Childhood Hunger

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOct 10, 2011—RALEIGH, NC

The venerable Pork Chop Shop will again tempt the taste buds of N.C. State Fair attendees in 2011 and this time pork lovers will have a chance to help out in the fight against childhood hunger in their own communities. For more than 20 years, the Pork Chop Shop has been a feature at the fair, representing an agribusiness that employs more than 46,000 North Carolinians and has an annual impact of more than $9 billion on the state's economy. Sponsored and operated by the N.C. Pork Council (NCPC), the Pork Chop Shop will again be located alongside Hillsborough Street and adjacent to Dorton Arena directly beside the new Gate 1. Over the fair's 11-day run, the Pork Chop Shop will serve thousands of plates of Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue and pork loin.

Ann Edmondson, NCPC's director of communications and marketing, noted, "This year, we are donating a portion of our proceeds to The Food Effect, the campaign we co-sponsor in support of the state's food banks." Edmondson added, "Childhood hunger in our state is a concern for all of us in the pork industry. Statistics show that North Carolina is tied with Louisiana for the highest percentage of hungry children, one in four under the age of five." The Food Effect is driven by an online network designed to unite people in the fight against childhood hunger in North Carolina and the negative impact it can have on children's development. The campaign's website, (TheFoodEffect.org) is enabling people to give money or time to the food bank in their area via one of N.C.’s seven regional food bank organizations, and to create discussion of the hunger issue within their social networks. Each year, volunteers work in the full-service Pork Chop Shop, comprising 1,500 square feet under a pink and white-striped tent familiar to thousands of loyal customers. Staffed by pork producers and others directly involved in the state's pork industry, the restaurant offers wholesome food at modest prices. It’s also a way to observe October as National Pork Month. Many of those industry members working in the Pork Chop Shop spend valuable time with customers as they build public trust in their products and their practices while promoting pork. Last year, more than 16,000 customers were served 2,328 pounds of pork loin, 2,700 pounds of chopped barbecue, 300 pounds of hot dogs and 875 pounds of hush puppy mix. The Pork Chop Shop will be open from Thursday, October 13 through Sunday, October 23. Opening day hours are 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. with the remainder of the schedule running from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.

About the N.C. Pork Council (www.ncpork.org) The North Carolina Pork Council (NCPC) is the statewide organization chartered in 1962 to support producers and allied industry partners within the North Carolina pork industry. Today, the pork industry in the state includes more than 2,100 farms, about 46,000 full-time jobs and adds $9 billion to North Carolina’s economy.

Contact: Ann Edmondson 919.781.0361

 

Gov. Bev Perdue, Share Our Strength Launch "No Kid Hungry North Carolina"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sep 13, 2011—RALEIGH

No Kid hungry NC release

Partnership Will Help End Childhood Hunger by Connecting Kids to Federal Food and Nutrition Programs; Pilot Program Launched At 27 Schools Statewide Aimed at Increasing School Breakfast Participation

DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 13, 2011/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gov. Bev Perdue joined Durham Mayor Bill Bell,  Share Our Strength® and NC Serves, the lead nonprofit working with the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service,  to launch the No Kid Hungry® North Carolina partnership today. The public-private partnership will aim to end childhood hunger by using proven strategies to increase the number of North Carolina children who eat meals through programs funded by the federal government such as the School Breakfast Program.

"I am proud to be among the leaders here helping make government work better for our kids," Gov. Perdue said. "One of my top priorities is improving education for our children's future – strengthening their minds. For far too many of them, their bodies are not getting the nourishment they need. The resources for feeding our kids are there, and it's our job to make sure they are connected to them."

Recent findings show that more than one in four children (603,250) in North Carolina are at risk of hunger. The state also ranks 11th highest nationwide (28.5 %) in households with children that face food hardship and ranks 11th highest in overall child food insecurity (27.3 %).

Gov. Perdue is leading the No Kid Hungry North Carolina partnership with Share Our Strength, a national organization working to end childhood hunger, and NC Serves to convene a collaborating table of key stakeholders across the state that will improve access to federal food and nutrition programs for kids.

"Our focus is on long-term change, the difference between feeding a child today and making sure no child in the U.S. ever goes hungry again," said Bill Shore, founder and executive director of Share Our Strength. "We are pleased to be working with Gov. Perdue and believe that together we can end childhood hunger here in North Carolina and nationwide."

The partnership's focus during its first year is to connect more eligible low-income children to school breakfast and summer meals in coordination with the Department of Public Instruction. Studies show that students who do not eat breakfast have slower memory recall, make more errors and are more likely to be absent or tardy and to repeat a grade.

Breakfast is available in 99 percent of all North Carolina schools, and the Governor recently signed a bill allowing low-income kids who qualify for reduced-price lunch to get free breakfast.  Yet of the more than 640,000 students who get a free or reduced-price lunch at school, fewer than half (310,516) participate in school breakfast.

Reasons for low participation include stigma, transportation barriers and lack of awareness of the program. No Kid Hungry North Carolina is taking proven steps to close the school breakfast gap by launching a pilot program with 27 schools across the state using a variety of strategies for increasing school breakfast participation which have worked successfully in other states.

"By using innovative meal delivery models, we hope to increase breakfast participation and arm students with the morning nutrition they need to focus and learn," said Dr. Lynn Harvey with the Department of Public Instruction. "Children should never start the school day hungry."

A recent Share Our Strength® survey of K-8th grade teachers showed that nearly two-thirds (65%) of teachers say there are children in their classrooms who regularly come to school hungry because they are not getting enough to eat at home.

"How can we expect children to pay attention and participate in class if we don't equip them with a nutritious morning meal?" asked Cornelius Redfearn, Principal of Lakewood Elementary School where the launch was held. "The School Breakfast Program offers children the chance to start the day with a healthy meal so they can succeed in school, but it is up to us to make these meals accessible to students."

The partnership will also work to make certain children receive regular, nutritious meals when school lets out for summer. Currently, only 13 percent of kids who get a free or reduced-price school lunch also get a free summer meal.

Like most states, North Carolina faces serious budget challenges. However, in 2010, the state could have brought more than $27 million in additional federal funds to local communities through greater participation in school breakfast and summer meals programs.  Increasing participation in these programs will bring in more federal funding to the state. Share Our Strength is also committing more than $125,000 to the partnership.

Share Our Strength supports No Kid Hungry partnerships in 14 other states and will launch four more in 2011. These partnerships have seen tremendous success. The Colorado No Kid Hungry Campaign worked with Gov. Bill Ritter and the Commissioner of Education to launch the Colorado School Breakfast Challenge, which resulted in the state serving almost 330,000 more breakfasts in October 2010 than in October 2009, a 17 percent increase.

Share Our Strength also supports the North Carolina Cooking Matters TM program, which empowers families at risk of hunger with the skills, knowledge and confidence to make healthy and affordable meals with the help of volunteer culinary and nutrition experts. Cooking Matters courses in North Carolina helped more than 400 people discover how to prepare healthy and affordable meals in 2010.

Share Our Strength's national No Kid Hungry efforts are also supported by core partners ConAgra Foods Foundation and Food Network. Go to www.NoKidHungry.org/NorthCarolina to learn more about the partnership. Visit www.Strength.orgto learn more about Share Our Strength.

Contact:

Ariana Holm, aholm@strength.org, C: 571-213-6465, O: 202-649-4350 Tamara Baker, tbaker@hatch-consulting.com, C: 919-951-9282, O: 919-933-7650

SOURCE Share Our Strength

RELATED LINKS http://www.strength.org