Chicago, U.S.A. – Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, left its support of Blackberry devices in favor of Windows Phone. The move strengthens Feeding America’s capabilities as it complements the organization’s use of other Microsoft solutions including Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Lync Server 2010.

In an effort to be fiscally responsible, Feeding America conducted a review of its former Blackberry environment and explored other wireless devices, including Android, iPhone and Windows Phone. By migrating from Blackberry to Windows Phone, the company discovered it could avoid costly annual server maintenance expenses. In addition, the organization’s move has resulted in several benefits, including a 24 percent reduction in cost per device and improved access to the information and IT services that employees rely on to collaborate and be productive.

“Windows Phone provides a level of integration with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 and Lync Server 2010 that are not available with the iPhone, iPad or Android,” said Kevin Lutz, vice president of Technology at Feeding America.

Feeding America was particularly satisfied with the ease of interoperation between Windows Phone and its existing Microsoft products. It was also impressed with the excellent end-user experience, which was seamless, coherent and familiar across all Microsoft products and services.

“With Office Mobile built into Windows Phone, employees were able to be immediately productive,” said Andy Isztok, director of Service Delivery at Feeding America. “The Office Hub in Windows Phone is great for quickly getting to PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets — regardless of whether they’re stored on your phone or in the cloud on Windows Live SkyDrive.

More and more employees are also discovering Microsoft OneNote Mobile; they love how it uses Windows Live to give them access to their OneNote notebooks on their phones, on their PCs and on the Web.”

With its mobile devices budget in better order, Feeding America is able to remain focused on its mission to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of more than 200 member food banks, which serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through its member food banks, Feeding America is able to distribute more than 3 billion pounds of food and grocery products each year.

More information on Microsoft’s customer success stories please visit.

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Higher food costs and rising gas prices could prove to be damaging to the nation’s food banks and their ability to provide adequate emergency food to the nearly 49 million Americans who are currently living at risk of hunger, Feeding America, the network of the nation’s largest food banks announced.

Although recent reports indicate that the economy is beginning to improve and that the unemployment rate is also beginning to shrink, Feeding America’s food banks continue to face significant struggles as America recovers from the worst economic recession in decades.

The Feeding America network of more than 200 food banks and 61,000 local partners are feeding 37 million Americans a year, including nearly 14 million children and 3 million seniors. But with rising operating costs and decreasing supply, a number of factors are contributing to a “perfect storm” of challenges that threaten to leave food banks unable to meet the need in their communities.

Gas prices increased 26% in 2011, adding tremendous costs to transporting food. Increased fuel costs particularly affect rural areas, where populations are less dense. Many food banks support emergency feeding across a vast service area.
Food inflation is also hitting food banks hard. Grocery prices increased an average rate of 6% in the last half of 2011, and food banks have been hard pressed to make up the difference.

Feeding America Food banks have seen significant increases in the price of household staples like milk, which increased in price by nine percent in 2011, and peanut butter, which costs 38% more now than it did a year ago. Rising food prices also mean that healthy, nutritious food becomes further out of reach for many of the clients served by Feeding America, further increasing their reliance on food banks
“A major concern for us is the significant decline in USDA commodities provided to our food banks.

These commodities generally account for about a quarter of the 3 billion pounds of food our food banks distribute each year. This is highly-valued, nutritious food – fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy product. We saw a reduction of about 30 percent last year, and are already experiencing more reductions this year,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America.

Donations of food from food manufacturers also declined by about 15% last year, due to increased manufacturing efficiencies.

“We are also deeply concerned about the potential for cuts to Federal hunger-relief programs like SNAP (food stamps) as Congress looks for ways to reduce the deficit. More than 40 million Americans, including many of our clients, rely on SNAP. We understand that there must be reductions in government spending, but cutting anti-hunger programs is penny-wise and a pound foolish,” Escarra said.

“Federal nutrition programs meet an urgent and immediate need. They also reap long term benefits by eliminating the health, educational, and workforce productivity costs associated with hunger and poor nutrition,” Escarra said. “Feeding America urges Congress to maintain robust funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental Nutrition Program and SNAP.”

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Breakout electro inspired hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang, comprised of rapper Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege and producer Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Beresin, is partnering with Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity, to launch a Breakfast Food Drive with college fans from 13 markets across the United States. The Feeding America network is comprised of more than 200 member food banks serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and secures and distributes 3 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually.

The band was inspired to name their debut album Breakfast not only from the obvious symbolism (first meal, first album), but also from their genuine belief that a good day always begins with a quality breakfast.  Band member Noah Beresin says, “For us, what separates the good days from the bad days is a good breakfast, so we’re happy to help give people in need a healthy and nutritious breakfast.”

Over 20 student-run organizations (fraternities, sororities, and student clubs) will participate in a Breakfast Food Drive which will take place over a ten-day span beginning Friday, February 24.  The student organizations are encouraged to donate healthy, nutritious breakfast items, such as peanut butter, 100% juice, oatmeal, and canned fruit to the Feeding America food bank in their areas.

The top five donating organizations will all receive a home electronics prize worth $500 (TBC), and the overall largest donating group will also be awarded a free concert from Chiddy Bang this spring. For more details, please visit http://chiddybang.net/feedamerica.

Participating Feeding America member food banks are:

• Capital Area Food Bank (Washington, D.C.)
• Cleveland Food Bank (OH)
• Community Food Share (CO)
• Delaware Food Bank (DE)
• Eastern Illinois Food Bank (IL)
• Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (NC)
• Food Lifeline (WA)
• Greater Boston Food Bank (MA)
• Los Angeles Regional Food Bank (CA)
• Mid-Ohio Food Bank (OH)
• Mississippi Food Network (MS)
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (NC)

For updated information on Chiddy Bang visit: www.facebook.com/ChiddyBang  or www.chiddybang.net. Follow Chiddy Bang on twitter at www.twitter.com/chiddybang. For photos, bio and other press materials visit: www.emimusicpublicity.net

Visit Feeding America at www.feedingamerica.org. Find it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow it on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/partywounds/

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A match offer from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation proved to be the motivating factor in nearly $1 million in personal financial contributions – from more than 8,000 donors across the country – and helped to provide more than 26 million meals this holiday season through Feeding America’s “Give A Meal” campaign.

The campaign was launched this past holiday season and proved to be an overwhelming success. The program was a collective effort to fight the pressing issue of hunger in large and small communities through combined personal donations via Feeding America and Bank of America websites.

As the campaign’s signature partner, Bank of America, through its Gift for Opportunity fund, contributed $2 for every $1 donated via feedingamerica.org/BankofAmerica or bankofamerica.com/give.  Combined with Bank of America’s initial $1 million donation to Feeding America at the outset of the campaign, the successful outcome is a final donation of $2.5 million towards hunger-relief in the United States.

At a time when many individuals and families are struggling to put food on the table, the opportunity for donors to contribute funds locally to food banks, and extend this support through the company’s matching donation, helped motivate and increase donations to the fight against hunger.

Jennifer Mason, who owns the Best Ink Store in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has given to her local food bank (the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia) in the past, but when she saw the chance to more than double her donation; she immediately jumped on the opportunity.

“The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia serves one in four people in our community who do not know where their next meal is coming from.  As a supporter of the food bank, I wanted to leverage my gift of $5,000 and activate Bank of America’s matching donation to generate more revenue to the food bank in support of their programs to feed the hungry,” she said.

Similar stories of motivated donors were heard from across Feeding America’s network of more than 200 member food banks nationwide.

“With one in nine residents in eastern Massachusetts now at risk of hunger, we are grateful to Bank of America’s efforts to help The Greater Boston Food Bank end hunger in our community,” said Catherine D’Amato, President and CEO, The Greater Boston Food Bank. “Their support not only helped to raise additional funds, but also helped to raise more awareness around the critical issue of hunger in America. With their help, we can end hunger here.”

Bank of America’s support of the “Give A Meal” campaign stems from its longstanding commitment to serve pressing needs in the communities it serves.  “Give A Meal” provided an opportunity to engage individuals – on a local level –to help fight hunger in the United States.

“We are thrilled with the response to the Gift for Opportunity fund, and more importantly we are pleased that a significant number of families in need will have access to meals thanks to the generous contributions of individuals across the country,” said Kerry Sullivan, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. “With nearly 49 million people in America struggling with hunger, we continue to look for meaningful ways to be part of the solution to help those at risk of hunger and other critical needs.”

Along with Bank of America, a number of other corporate partners, such as Dillard’s, HMSHost, Honey Baked Ham, and Winn-Dixie teamed up with Feeding America for the initiative.

Emmy Award winning talk show host Rachael Ray, celebrity Chef Mario Batali, host of ABC’s The Chew, Australian chef and television star Curtis Stone, rock sensations Benji and Joel Madden, Entertainment Tonight correspondent Samantha Harris, Grammy Award winning singer Monica, Food Network star Ellie Krieger, chef and TV host Sara Gore, TV food critic and host Katie Lee, Extra Virgin husband and wife hosts actress Debi Mazar and chef Gabriele Corcos, and the platinum selling band OneRepublic also lent their name to the effort.

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Safeway and Kraft Foods have announced the culmination of the Help Us End Hunger (Every Bag Counts) food drive, a national program helping fight hunger in communities across the country.

With the help of generous Safeway customers, nearly 362,000 bags of groceries were secured for food banks and other hunger relief centers throughout the U.S.  In addition to helping provide products for the food drive, Kraft Foods donated the monetary equivalent of 3 million meals* –$420,000– to local food banks in Safeway’s U.S. operating divisions.

Part of Kraft Foods’ donation helps support the efforts of 100 Safeway stores that sold the most food drive bags for local food banks.  These “Top 100 Food Banks” will receive a monetary grant as part of Kraft Foods’ three million meal donation.

The Help Us End Hunger (Every Bag Counts) food drive was central to Safeway’s end-of-year giving initiative.  High-quality pantry staples were pre-selected and bagged, allowing customers to purchase the bag for a discounted price and place it in a donation barrel that went directly to a local food bank.

“Hunger is a very serious issue in our country that often goes overlooked,” said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive Vice President and Chair of the Safeway Foundation. “Sadly, more than 50 million Americans, or one in six of our neighbors, struggles to put food on their tables.

That’s why we joined with Kraft Foods and encouraged our customers to help us tackle this problem.  The Help Us End Hunger (Every Bag Counts) food drive and Kraft Foods’ meal donation meant that nearly 362,000 families in need had nutritious food.”

Safeway is a longtime hunger relief advocate and an industry leader in environmental sustainability, ethical business practices and effective community outreach.

Safeway upholds an operating philosophy that is rooted in corporate social responsibility and focused on four key fundamentals: People, Products, Community, and the Planet. These fundamentals are “The Heart of Safeway,” bringing together our passion for food and serving our customers with the rapidly developing needs of our communities and our planet.

Kraft Foods has a long-standing commitment to fighting hunger.  The three million meal donation for Help Us End Hunger (Every Bag Counts) is part of Kraft Foods’ “Huddle to Fight Hunger,” a program that has raised more than 25 million meals for Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization.

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The Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation has announced a grant of $102,000 to Feeding America, the country’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. The donation will help support child hunger relief through Feeding America initiatives such as its BackPack program, which provides hungry children with nutritious and easy-to-prepare food to take home on weekends and school vacations when other resources are not available.

The DDBRCF grant will be distributed among eight food banks across the United States: Greater Boston Food Bank, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Philabundance, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Cleveland Food Bank, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Albuquerque Road Runners and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The donation was made possible in part from a grant from the Rich Family Foundation.

The DDBRCF has had a national partnership with Feeding America since 2007 and has donated nearly $1 million to support local food banks. Over the past four years, The DDBRCF has addressed the issue of hunger relief through both national and local efforts. Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins franchisees have led food drives in the communities they serve and have organized volunteer days at their local food banks to help fill backpacks filled with nutritious snacks for children.

Feeding America is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, with more than 200 member food banks serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Feeding America’s food banks secure and distribute 3 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually through a network of approximately 61,000 food assistance agencies, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and after-school programs.

37 million Americans receive food and groceries from Feeding America each year, including nearly 14 million children and 3 million senior citizens, and approximately 5.7 million Americans receive the Feeding America network every week.

According to Karen Raskopf, Co-Chair of The Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communications at Dunkin’ Brands, “Our Foundation is committed to working with Feeding America to help eradicate hunger, particularly childhood hunger, in the communities we serve.

Dunkin’ Brands and our franchisees are proud of our support of this cause and look forward to continuing to support the Feeding America network of food banks in the fight to end hunger.”

“Nearly 49 million people – approximately 1 in 6 Americans – struggle with hunger, including more than 16 million children. Every day, working families in every neighborhood are forced to choose between food, rent and medicine,” said Leah Ray, Feeding America’s Vice President of Corporate Partnerships.

“The support of our partners has never been more crucial, and we are extremely grateful to The Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation for their generous grant to help us combat hunger.”

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Statement attributable to Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America:

On January 25 President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address to Congress and the nation.  The President spoke about the need to restore the American values of responsibility and fairness for all in order to ensure opportunity for all Americans.

Those values have been compromised in recent years by a struggling economy that has left 1 in 6 men, women and children in America at risk of hunger. There is no greater evidence of the need for long-term solutions to restore opportunity than the number of Americans struggling to put food on the table, including a number of middle class families seeking food assistance for the first time.

Feeding America strongly believes that feeding our neighbors is a shared responsibility. We are grateful for the many volunteers and donors who support our work in communities around the country, enabling us to feed 37 million Americans each year. We are also grateful that this value of shared responsibility is reflected in our federal budget through important anti-hunger programs like SNAP/food stamps, TEFAP, CSFP, and WIC.

We need the Administration and Congress to commit to ensuring that those confronting the greatest risks are not left behind as our nation looks to the future. The President laid out his vision for investing in skills for American workers, but we are sobered by the reminder that it does not matter what kind of educational and training opportunities we provide if Americans do not have enough to eat.

Children cannot learn if they are hungry, and workers cannot reach their fullest potential if they cannot afford to provide enough food for their families. That is why any investment in the future of America must be coupled with an investment in reducing hunger.

The annual cost of our nation’s hunger problem is estimated at over $167 billion per year in reduced educational outcomes, lost worker productivity, and increased health care costs. Fortunately, federal anti-hunger programs are an effective preventative investment that protect against hunger and promote nutrition and enable children and adults to reach their fullest potential.

Investing in nutrition programs is an investment in American values and an investment in America’s future. As a people that values helping our neighbors, there is no more fundamental expression of that value than to feed our most vulnerable citizens. And a country that promises a future filled with hope and opportunity for every citizen must be a country that invests in fighting hunger, because the long-term health of our nation lies in the health of its people.

We urge our nation’s leaders to work together to defend federal anti-hunger programs and to make sure that these vital programs, firmly grounded in American values, remain in place to protect hungry Americans.

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Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, and the DreamWorks Pictures movie The Help, are joining forces this holiday season to help feed Americans facing hunger. Coinciding with the DVD/Blu-ray release of The Help on December 6, a national donation campaign will run from December 1 to December 11 to generate food and funding to help feed the 1 in 6 people in the United States who do not have enough to eat.

“The economic downturn really hurt American families,” said Feeding America Director of Media Relations Ross Fraser. “As a nation, we need to come together to help our neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet. The collaboration between Feeding America and the producers of The Help is a great example of how we can come together to make a difference.”

“The film’s hopeful message of creating change along with its home entertainment release during the holidays inspired the team here to reach out and help make a difference in people’s lives,” noted Jeff Small, President and Chief Operating Officer of DreamWorks Studios.

“Feeding America seemed the perfect fit in that it operates nationally but is focused locally and housed within the communities it serves and will directly benefit those in need. We’re happy The Help can help.” To help put food in the hands of as many people/families in need this holiday season, Feeding America/ The Help are asking consumers to please help contribute in one of the following ways.

It’s this simple:

• Donate Online - Every $1.00 donated can help Feeding America provide meals eight meals for people in need. People who make online donations at www.feedingamerica.org/thehelp between December 1 and 11 will receive a limited-time $5.00 off coupon toward the purchase of the film The Helpon Blu-ray or DVD.Touchstone Pictures, the affiliate of The Walt Disney Company that distributed The Help, will provide a matching donation of up to $10,000, with a goal of providing more than 200,000 meals to families at risk of hunger.

• Get Social – Throughout the month of December, Facebook and Twitter fans of The Help will be encouraged to take action in their local communities. The Help Facebook and Twitter accounts will post details about how people can get involved and ask fans to provide feedback and talk about their local community efforts/contributions.

• Drop Off Food – Feeding America/The Help themed food donation boxes will be positioned at local community events in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas and Atlanta throughout December. The food collected will be distributed the local Feeding America food bank. Please consider donating foods that are most frequently requested, such as cereal, pasta, rice, beans, canned fruits and vegetables, soups, 100% juices, peanut butter, canned tuna, chicken or turkey.

Those who would like to stay connected with the Feeding America/The Help program are encouraged to:

• “Like” the Facebook page

• Follow us on Twitter

Unprecedented demand for food assistance

The state of the economy is affecting more Americans than any other time in recent history. The US Department of Agriculture reports that 49 million Americans are food insecure. Feeding America reports a 46 percent increase in the number of people seeking emergency food assistance through their nationwide network of food banks compared to four years ago.

For those not living in the five cities where the food drive takes place, DreamWorks will be doing grassroots and media awareness campaigns to encourage local community efforts. As well, you can find other ways to help on TakePart.com/TheHelp, the social action website sponsored by The Help‘s producing partners Participant Media.

Who’s Helping?

The #1  New York Times  best-seller by Kathryn Stockett comes to vivid life through the powerful performances of a phenomenal ensemble cast. The Help is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project — one that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk.

Filled with poignancy, humor and hope — and complete with compelling, never-before-seen bonus features — The Help is a timeless, universal and triumphant story about the ability to create change. To learn more about the movie please visit, http://thehelpmovie.com/us/.

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors.

Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinfoodbank/

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Each family has its own Thanksgiving traditions, but one tradition that appears to be universal in many households is the enjoyment of leftovers. Every year, consumers find themselves with extra Thanksgiving food, and it’s no surprise because 50 percent of people prepare too much food with the expectations of having leftovers. For 65 percent of people, those Thanksgiving leftovers last for three or more days.

With that many days eating the same food, consumers are bound to quickly tire their palates. For those looking for something creative yet quick and easy to prepare, Chef George Duran has partnered with ReadySetEat to create five new recipes that turn those Turkey Day leftovers, into left-uppers.

This Thanksgiving, families can enjoy Leftover Turkey and Stuffing Enchiladas, Leftover Turkey Taco Soup, Leftover Turkey Sloppy Joes, Leftover Turkey Frittata and Leftover Turkey Lettuce Wraps. Created for ReadySetEat by George Duran, ConAgra Foods spokesperson, celebrity chef and author of Take This Dish and Twist It, the recipes ensure people don’t get bored with the same turkey sandwich for days on-end after Thanksgiving. Available at ReadySetEat.com, these quick and easy recipes and leftover tips will make a holiday bird taste even better the second time around.

“Getting creative with your Thanksgiving leftovers does not have to be difficult. These new recipes are quick and easy to prepare and will be enjoyed by the whole family,” says Duran. “ReadySetEat.com helps solve the ‘what’s for dinner’ question, and these new ‘left-upper’ recipes offer creative and delicious solutions for using Thanksgiving leftovers.”

Recipes found on ReadySetEat.com offer simple meal ideas made in 30 minutes or less using a maximum of seven ingredients. All recipes use a few common ingredients that most people are likely to have in their kitchen, including many of the ConAgra Food brands that people know and trust. ReadySetEat.com doesn’t just help consumers save time, it also helps save money.

Consumers simply enter their zip code and select their local grocery, and the site shares what products are on sale at their preferred retailer. ConAgra Foods purchases can also help those who will go hungry this holiday season. Every UPC code from a ConAgra Foods product, including Hunt’s Tomatoes, Manwich Original Sloppy Joe Sauce and Peter Pan Peanut Butter used to make some of George Duran’s “left-upper” recipes, can help feed a child in need through ConAgra Foods “Child Hunger Ends Here” campaign.

Throughout the fall, thousands of participating schools are collecting ConAgra Foods UPC codes, and every code collected will enable one meal to be donated to those in need through Feeding America’s network of food banks. Visit www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com to find out if a school near you is participating or to register your school.

Since 1993, ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation have donated more than $35 million and 260 million pounds of food to fight child hunger.

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