Ford Takes Aim At Hunger

Automaker Helping Families In Need For The Holidays

For more than 37 million Americans, Thanksgiving Day is another day of food insecurity, described in the 2010 study by Feeding America as not knowing where they will find their next meal. Ford Motor Company is partnering with Feeding America affiliate food banks and other organizations on a number of initiatives aimed at providing needed support.

For thousands of families that depend on southeast Michigan agencies, Ford’s support will mean weekend food backpacks, holiday food packages or holiday meals. More than 500 Ford employees in the Ford Volunteer Corps will sort and pack food, and prepare and serve meals at about 30 agencies as part of the Ford Accelerated Action Day on Dec. 3. Ford Motor Company Fund is providing $50,000 to ten agencies to support this effort.

For those that depend on food banks as far away as Anchorage, Alaska, Boise, Idaho, and Providence, Rhode Island, Ford’s support means new refrigerated trucks on the road delivering fresh produce and other perishable food items. Nine trucks in those cities and elsewhere are joining a nationwide fleet of 98 vehicles in all 50 states -- part of a ten-year partnership with Newman’s Own and Feeding America.

“Along with our community partners, we are committed to the possibility of every family having enough to eat,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “This season is a reminder of the privilege we all have to get involved and make a difference.”

Ford also has transformed Transit Connect vans into Ford Mobile Food Pantries for use by organizations in Michigan and Tennessee, and has provided support to community organizations in dozens of states nationwide.