Volunteers package meals with Stop Hunger Now
Pittsburg, PA (PRWEB) June 11, 2014
Heinz and international hunger relief agency Stop Hunger Now have joined forces to fight malnutrition in developing countries. At an event today at Heinz World Headquarters in Pittsburgh, hundreds of Heinz employees will assemble more than 100,000 meals in three hours. The packages will then be distributed via Stop Hunger Now’s global distribution network.
The meal packaging event is the first employee initiative under a new partnership between Stop Hunger Now and the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign (HMC). The HMC has been the signature program of the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation for more than a decade, impacting more than 3.5 million children in 15 developing countries.
“Heinz is thrilled to partner with Stop Hunger Now, a globally regarded non-profit organization with proven success, to even further evolve and extend the reach of our signature Micronutrient Campaign,” said Michael Mullen, SVP of Corporate and Government Affairs at Heinz. “As a global food company, combating hunger worldwide is a natural extension of our brand. Our Micronutrient Campaign and partnership with Stop Hunger Now is pivotal to our Company’s Vision, which challenges Heinz to Grow a Better World.”
Under the new partnership, the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation will provide funding for all of the micronutrient sachets used by Stop Hunger Now for the dehydrated, high protein, and highly-nutritious meals they produce. Stop Hunger Now meals are distributed around the world to support education programs and in response to disaster. In 2014, the Heinz collaboration will provide Stop Hunger Now with an estimated seven million sachets containing crucial vitamin and mineral for more than 42 million meals.
The H.J. Heinz Company Foundation has also contributed funding and technical expertise to help Stop Hunger Now improve the composition of the sachets to provide a greater nutritional value to the meals comprised of rice, soy protein and dried vegetables. In 2013, the Foundation helped procure 2.2 million sachets that provided the micronutrients for more than 13 million Stop Hunger Now meals.
“Thanks to the generosity of the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation, Stop Hunger Now is able to stretch our resources even further and save more lives,” said Rod Brooks, President and CEO of Stop Hunger Now. “Now we are able to provide even more nutritious meals and help reverse the effects of malnutrition on children and adults across the globe.”
Last year, Stop Hunger Now domestic operations and international affiliates packaged 41.9 million meals that were distributed to 27 countries. Stop Hunger Now distributes its meals through feeding programs operated by partner organizations in developing countries which promote education, encourage children to attend school, improve the health and nutrition of students, address gender inequalities, spur economic growth, combat child labor, and create a platform for tackling global issues. In addition to supporting school feeding programs, Stop Hunger Now also provides meals in response to crisis relief.
Stop Hunger Now meals are packaged through popular community-supported meal packaging programs, like the event at Heinz today, that often are part of corporate responsibility or volunteer service projects.
Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief organization that coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world. Founded in 1998, Stop Hunger Now has delivered aid and disaster relief supplies in the form of food, medical supplies, clothing, school supplies, and more to thousands of disaster victims and other hungry and vulnerable people in 65 countries.
Around the world, more than 868 million people lack adequate food and more than 25,000 die each day from hunger-related illnesses. Stop Hunger Now operates meal packaging locations in 18 cities throughout the U.S. and international locations in South Africa and Malaysia. More than 300,000 volunteers from corporations, churches, schools and civic organizations have packaged Stop Hunger Now meals.
As a global leader in infant and child nutrition, Heinz created the HMC in 2001 to enhance access to nutritional supplements that promote healthy growth and development, especially in developing countries and regions. Iron-deficiency anemia, a “hidden hunger” caused by a lack of essential vitamins and minerals, is limiting the potential of millions of children and cutting lives short. It can impair physical and mental development, weaken the immune system and significantly increase the risk of dying before the age of five. The Heinz Micronutrient Campaign (HMC) is dedicated to addressing this global health threat as the signature Corporate Social Responsibility program of the H.J. Heinz Company and its Foundation.