Feeding America® Furnishes Produce For Families In Distress With Support From Disney

 

CHICAGO, November 20: As component of its dedication to assist in forming healthier generations, The Walt Disney Company has made a contribution to Feeding America® to sustain endeavors to source more produce and augment the amount of nutritious meals furnished to children and families who require it most. The funds will be distributed to 30 Feeding America member food banks all through the U.S. operating produce programs to enhance access to nutritious foods. Last year, Feeding America obtained in excess of 1.8 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables and intends to furnish even more nourishing produce to families in need this year.

"We know that access to nutritious food is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Yet many people across the country may not know where they will find their next meal and the pandemic further exacerbates this issue," observed Blake Thompson, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Feeding America. "We are grateful for Disney's continued support of Feeding America programs that help to provide much-needed produce to our neighbors in need."

As the country's biggest domestic hunger-relief and food rescue organization, Feeding America is a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs that furnishes food aid to over 40 million people yearly. As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Feeding America anticipates that in excess of 50 million people could be food insecure in the United States this year, including 17 million children.

In an exclusive look behind the scenes, ABC's 'Localish' documented and aired on its network the travel of produce from seedlings grown in the soil of California farms to its transportation at full maturation throughout the nation to a food bank in Illinois, to the logistics and operation endeavors guided by volunteers to distribute the fresh produce to families across the United States.

Disney has sustained Feeding America's attempts to end hunger in the U.S. since 2012, furnishing considerable funding for the organization's produce programs and volunteer endeavors at member food banks. This year's funding will aid food banks furnish more fresh produce to kids and families facing hunger by removing obstacles to sourcing and distributing produce, for  example building capacity by augmenting refrigeration and equipment at food banks or helping to store and distribute fresh produce within communities to people who need it most.

Following is the list of grant recipient food banks below.

Central Texas Food Bank – Austin, TX
Foodshare – Bloomfield, CT
Lowcountry Food Bank – Charleston, SC
Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina – Charlotte, NC
Greater Chicago Food Depository – Chicago, IL
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – Concord, CA
Montgomery County Food Bank – Conroe, TX
Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina – Fayetteville, NC
Treasure Coast Food Bank – Fort Pierce, FL
Central California Food Bank – Fresno, CA
Northern Illinois Food Bank – Geneva, IL
Long Island Cares, Inc. – Hauppauge, NY
Community Foodbank of New Jersey – Hillside, NJ
Houston Food Bank – Houston, TX
Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County – Irvine, CA
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank – Los Angeles, CA
Food Bank For New York City – New York, NY
City Harvest – New York, NY
Alameda County Community Food Bank – Oakland, CA
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida – Orlando, FL
Food Share of Ventura County – Oxnard, CA
Feeding South Florida – Pembroke Park, FL
Philabundance – Philadelphia, PA
Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina – Raleigh, NC
Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino Counties – Riverside, CA
San Francisco and Marin Food Banks – San Francisco, CA
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley – San Jose, CA
Redwood Empire Food Bank – Santa Rosa, CA
Food Lifeline – Seattle, WA
Capital Area Food Bank – Washington, DC

Apart from funding produce operations, Disney commenced their Feed the Love campaign in March 2020, led by ABC and the other media networks, to help furnish access to nutritious food during the pandemic. This campaign continues to drive awareness of hunger relief endeavors while educating the public at large about how to seek and provide help.

For additional facts about Feeding America and the network of food banks, one can log on to FeedingAmerica.org/FeedTheLove.

By Anjishnu Biswas