Keeping Kids Fed: Hershey's Partnerships With Feeding America and Food Banks Canada

Sep 30, 2020 12:30 PM ET

2019 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

WHY IT MATTERS
Many kids don’t get the nutrition they need during summer vacations when school lunch programs are on a break.

FEEDING AMERICA®
To help bridge this gap, Hershey continued its longtime partnership with Feeding America® to provide summer hunger grants that enable local food banks to extend services when school is not in session. Through a competitive grants process, our partnership identified opportunities to support the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and the All Faiths Food Bank in Sarasota, Florida. In Tennessee, our support enabled the food bank to provide almost 2,000 additional families with children the equivalent of more than 99,000 meals—a 16 percent increase over 2018. In Florida, the food bank was able to serve more than 350,000 meals to more than 3,200 children across 11 program sites.

FOOD BANKS CANADA
We continued our partnership with Food Banks Canada and support for its After the Bell program. This support includes summer meal packs and the Food Explorers program, which teaches kids how to safely prepare nutritious meals for themselves. During the year, Food Explorers expanded its coverage to more than 19 food banks with more than 170 children participating.

WHAT’S NEXT
We look forward to continuing these successful partnerships and fighting childhood hunger across the U.S. and Canada.

Read more in Hershey's 2019 Sustainability Report