First Global 'Make a Delicious Difference Week' Unites 10,000+ Employees to Fight Hunger, Promote Healthy Lifestyles and Build Stronger Communities

MADISON, Wis., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- This week, 250 Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer employees are volunteering at Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, a member of Feeding America, during the first-ever global Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer "Make a Delicious Difference Week" (Oct. 5-10), created to address the increasing need for emergency food assistance and promote healthy lifestyles.

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Second Harvest Foodbank reports, nearly one million more pounds of food were distributed to their partner programs during fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009) than the previous fiscal year. To help manage this rising demand, Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer volunteers will sort, inspect, re-package and label food and other items at Second Harvest Foodbank from October 5-October 10, 2009.

Globally, more than 10,000 Kraft Foods volunteers, employed in 33 countries, will lend a hand to promote healthy lifestyles and build stronger communities during this week. Add it up, and "Make a Delicious Difference Week" is the single largest volunteer effort in Kraft Foods history.

"The Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer volunteer efforts will allow us to meet the increasing need for food assistance and quickly provide food to the more than 400 programs reliant upon us for nutritious options," said Dan Stein, president/CEO of Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.

Approximately 500 Kraft Foods employees will also be assisting other Wisconsin communities including Waupaca, Wausau, Medford, Beaver Dam and Little Chute by volunteering at the following organizations: CAP Domestic Violence Shelter, Weyauwega Food Pantry, The Neighbors Place, Indianhead Community Action Agency and more.

"The volunteer spirit of our employees combined with the expertise of Second Harvest Foodbank is a winning recipe to fight hunger," said Nick Meriggioli, president, Oscar Mayer. "Knowing that we are helping organizations, like Second Harvest Foodbank, fight hunger right in our local communities, makes this first global week of service even more powerful."

In addition to the volunteer efforts, during Delicious Difference Week the Kraft Foods Foundation will match donations 2:1 made by full-time, US employees (with one-year of service) to eligible non-profit organizations. Every dollar donated for those six days will be double-matched--up to $500,000.

A Call to Action

To help fight hunger in southwestern Wisconsin year-round, Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer and Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin encourage individuals to sign up to volunteer by calling (608) 223-9121 x114 or e-mailing tanyap@shfbmadison.org.

Beginning Oct. 13, people can visit www.kraftfoodscompany.com to learn how to spread the volunteer spirit through a special online video. Each time this video is viewed, Kraft Foods will donate money to Feeding America to help provide five meals to those at risk of hunger -- up to 100,000 meals through the end of October.

Editor's Note: Photography available upon request.

Kraft Foods Support of Hunger and Healthy Lifestyles

As the second largest food company in the world, Kraft Foods is taking a stand when it comes to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles. Since 1997, the company has provided more than 1 billion servings of fresh food. Around the world, the company contributes approximately $100 million annually in food and money to community organizations in more than 130 countries. The company committed $180 million in the next three years to community involvement activities around the globe. The expansion of its global employee volunteer efforts though the first global "Make a Delicious Difference Week" is another example of the stepped up efforts of Kraft Foods. In Madison, Wis. the company has helped fight hunger through its partnership with Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and other non-profit organizations.

About Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin

Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in southwestern Wisconsin, where more than 100,000 people - 40 percent who are children - don't always have enough to eat. Through food and financial donations, Second Harvest acquires and distributes food to more than 400 programs, including food pantries, shelters and meal sites, in 16 counties. From July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009, Second Harvest Foodbank distributed more than 6.8 million pounds of food. It is one of 200 affiliates of Feeding America, the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization, engaging our country in the fight to end hunger. For more information, visit http://www.secondharvestmadison.org/.

About Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods (www.kraftfoodscompany.com) makes today delicious in 150 countries around the globe. Our 100,000 employees work tirelessly to make delicious foods consumers can feel good about. From American brand icons like Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings, Maxwell House coffees and Oscar Mayer meats, to global powerhouse brands like Oreo and LU biscuits, Philadelphia cream cheeses, Jacobs and Carte Noire coffees, Tang powdered beverages and Milka, Cote d'Or, Lacta and Toblerone chocolates, our brands deliver millions of smiles every day. Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) is the world's second largest food company with annual revenues of $42 billion. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index.

                               -make today delicious-

SOURCE Kraft Foods

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http://www.secondharvestmadison.org/