FOOD Share Receives $18,000 Grant From Hunger Is To Fight Childhood Hunger

VENTURA, Calif. - Nov. 25, 2014 - PRLog -- FOOD Sharehas received an $18,000 grant fromHunger Is to help solve childhood hunger in their community. FOOD Share, a member of the Feeding America network of food banks, was nominated by the managers of select Ventura County stores to receive this grant, which was made possible by customers who contributed generously during a month-long, in-store fundraiser this spring.  Hunger Is, the joint charitable program of The Safeway Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) featuring Academy Award®-nominated actress and Hunger Is Ambassador Viola Davis, raised more than $4.6 million from shoppers throughout 1,300 Safeway family of stores across the country, as well as through online contributions, to support eradicating childhood hunger in the United States.

Hunger Is allowed the local stores to identify an organization to receive the grant to help make a difference in their own community. The $18,000 Hunger Is grant will support local child hunger-relief efforts in providing sufficient and healthy meals to local children in need, including supporting FOOD Share’s Kids Farmers Market Program, which provides children valuable nutrition education and fresh produce to take home in order to put what they learn in practice.  With support from community partners, FOOD Share is able to provide support to the 44,870 hunger insecure children of Ventura County.

“We’re very grateful to receive this Hunger Is grant and the recognition of the select Ventura County location managers for our commitment to hunger-relief,” said Bonnie Weigel, CEO of FOOD Share. “It is imperative that the children in our community have basic necessities like food in order to succeed, and this grant will most certainly make a difference. We thank everyone who donated to the campaign – together, we are solving hunger.”

To learn more about the Hunger Is campaign, visit HungerIs.org. For ways to get involved in hunger-relief efforts locally, visit www.foodshare.com

About FOOD Share

More than 35 years ago, eight citizens performed a good deed by distributing food to those who were in need underneath a Ventura bridge. The early philanthropic movement quickly formed into what is now Ventura County’s regional food bank, FOOD Share, which has grown from serving a few hundred hungry people per month to 74,500 people. Today, staff and volunteers distribute more than 10 million pounds of food annually from its distribution site; more than 180 partner agencies, which include neighborhood and church food distributions and soup kitchens; as well as hunger assistance programs. FOOD Share’s programs provide healthy nutrition and education to children, families and seniors, which include: KIDS Share, SENIOR Share, Nutrition Education, Community Market, SoCal Gas CARE Program, ART Share and more. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, FOOD Share is a member of the Feeding America network, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. For more information about FOOD Share, visit www.foodshare.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FoodShareofVenturaCounty) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/FoodshareVC).

About Hunger Is
Hunger Is, a joint charitable program of The Safeway Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), is designed to build awareness and raise funds in an effort to eradicate childhood hunger in America.  Funds raised through Hunger Is directly benefit programs focused on combating childhood hunger and improving health-related outcomes.

Through theHunger Is Advisory Committee (HIAC), Hunger Is works together with the leading hunger organizations including Drexel University, Center for Hunger-Free Communities; Feeding America; Food Research and Action Center (FRAC); New York City Coalition Against Hunger; Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign; and WhyHunger. The HIAC provides guidance in defining and addressing needs and makes funding recommendations for approval by The Safeway Foundation and EIF Boards of Directors.

For more information, visit www.HungerIs.org.

About The Safeway Foundation
Founded in 2001, The Safeway Foundation supports causes that impact our customers' lives. Safeway stores provide the opportunity to mobilize funding and create awareness in our neighborhoods through the generous contributions by our customers, our employees' passion and partnerships with our vendors.. We focus on giving locally in the areas of health and human services, hunger relief, education and helping people with disabilities. Safeway Inc. and The Safeway Foundation have invested $1 billion in our neighborhoods since 2001. For more information about The Safeway Foundation, visit www.safewayfoundation.org.

About Feeding America
Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate.  Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica) or follow us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica).