WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Feed The Children and PepsiCo partnered to bring 10 semi tractor-trailers full of food, essentials and personal care items to help 3,200 families in Washington D.C.'s Ward 5. Approximately 250 PepsiCo volunteers and members of the Susie Elizabeth Crowder Owens Food Pantry helped to distribute the boxes.
Washington D.C. is struggling with the economic downturn. The unemployment and poverty rates in Washington D.C. are higher than the national averages. One in four children living in the city is considered impoverished. Ward 5, where this particular event was held, has a 9.2% unemployment rate, and 20% of its families live below the poverty line.
Employees from PepsiCo's various area businesses – Frito-Lay, Pepsi Beverages Company and PepsiCo Warehouse – handed out nearly 10,000 boxes of food, essentials and personal care items; 3,200 bags of PepsiCo products like Frito-Lay's Baked! line of snacks, SunChips multigrain snacks, Rold Gold pretzels, Quaker Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip granola bars, Tropicana orange juice, Propel Fit water and Sierra Mist Natural lemon-lime soda; fresh produce and a reusable shopping bag, provided by Giant Food of Landover, Md. Feed The Children partner agency, Susie Elizabeth Crowder Owens Food Pantry, identified the families in need of assistance and provided volunteer assistance at the event. Each family received the following items at the event:
"PepsiCo's D.C. Metro area associates often give back to the communities we share, but we are especially grateful that with Feed The Children and our friends at Giant Food we can have a larger impact that helps so many families at once," said Al Ferguson, Mid-Atlantic Metro Market Director, Frito-Lay North America. "Feed The Children's Americans Feeding Americans Caravan has been the perfect partner to help meet these vital needs in Ward 5 today."
The distribution was the latest stop on Feed The Children's Americans Feeding Americans Caravan. The caravan has helped more than 165,000 families across the country in cities that have been affected by the nation's economic downturn. Feed The Children plans to help at least 200,000 families with the caravan by the end of 2010.
"We are grateful that the contribution from PepsiCo and their partners has allowed us to help so many struggling families in our nation's capitol," said Tony Sellars, spokesperson for Feed The Children. "Our Americans Feeding Americans project is geared toward people who are still being affected by the economic downturn. A lot of these people, for the first time in their lives, have not been able to provide for their families and this distribution will provide relief for them at a crucial time."
To see the impact of Feed The Children's Americans Feeding Americans Caravan in your area visit www.AmericansFeedingAmericans.org .
About Feed The Children
Founded in 1979, Feed The Children is consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the U.S., based on private, non-government support. Feed The Children is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disasters. In FY 2009, Feed The Children distributed more than 111 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally. Since its founding, the organization has reached out to help those in need in 119 countries around the globe. For more information, please visit www.feedthechildren.org .
About Frito-Lay North America and PepsiCo
Frito-Lay North America is the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site, http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fritolay.
PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.
SOURCE Frito-Lay; PepsiCo