San Francisco Food Bank Receives Generous Grant From ConAgra Foods Foundation to Fight Child Hunger

June 13, 2011 - PRLog -- The San Francisco Food Bank, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger in San Francisco and Marin, is one of 11 nonprofit organization in nine states selected to receive funding as part of the ConAgra Foods Foundation’s Community Impact Grants program.

After a highly competitive two-step process, 11 organizations were selected to receive grants totaling more than $400,000 to support their innovative approaches to helping fight child hunger.  The San Francisco Food Bank has received a $58,675 grant to put towards developing a comprehensive plan to improve the San Francisco Unified School District's (SFUSD) school meals program.

With this funding, an independent research firm will conduct a thorough assessment of the current state of the SFUSD school meals program.  After the completion of the assessment, the San Francisco Food Bank will work with the research firm and in close collaboration with the SFUSD Student Nutrition Services and the San Francisco Department of Public Health to create a plan to increase the effectiveness of school meal preparation and delivery, the quality of meals (taste, freshness and appeal), and participation by students who qualify for the program.  The grant will help to ensure that all schoolchildren in our community, regardless of income, have the nourishment they need to learn, grow and thrive.

“Millions of children in this country aren’t sure if or from where they will get their next meal, and our Community Impact Grants are an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with a select group of local non-profits each year to offer real, sustainable solutions to end child hunger. We look forward to working with the San Francisco Food Bank and learning from their successes so that we can apply those lessons to our own work,” said Kori Reed, vice president, ConAgra Foods Foundation.

ConAgra Foods Foundation provides Community Impact Grants to organizations that have identified innovative solutions to combat child hunger and enhance nutrition education among at-risk populations. Community Impact Grant recipients are selected primarily from communities where ConAgra Foods has a presence and/or states where more than 20 percent of children are at risk of hunger. In the second year of this initiative, the ConAgra Foods Foundation has given approximately $1 million dollars to nonprofit organizations nationally.

About San Francisco Food Bank and Marin Food Bank
Hunger is a serious problem in our community – with 1 in 5 children and 1 in 5 adults at risk of hunger in San Francisco and Marin. Every day, the Food Bank source, collect, sort, inspect and repackage thousands of pounds of food, then distributes it to soup kitchens, neighborhood grocery centers, school programs and seniors in need.

The San Francisco Food Bank and the Marin Food Bank combined serve over 200,000 people per year, and will distribute 43.5 million pounds of food to the community this year – enough for at least 93,000 meals every day. 60% of what is distributed is fresh fruits and vegetables. For more information, visit www.SFFoodBank.org

About ConAgra Foods Foundation
The ConAgra Foods Foundation, through its Nourish Today, Flourish Tomorrow platform, is dedicated to raising awareness of the 17 million children in America who are at risk of hunger and don't have enough food to live active, healthful lives. It aggressively pursues sustainable solutions in the fight against child hunger. And the Foundation is committed to building a community of people who are passionate about ensuring that all kids have access to the food and facts they need to eat nutritiously while living balanced lifestyles and succeeding in school and life. ConAgra Foods Foundation invests in national and local partnerships with high-impact, not-for-profit organizations, such as Feeding America, that take an innovative approach to addressing needs in the core areas of hunger and nutrition education. For more information, please visit www.conagrafoodsfoundation.org or www.facebook.com/ConAgraFoodsFoundation. The ConAgra Foods Foundation is funded solely by ConAgra Foods.