Bumble Bee Foods Honored as Corporate Partner of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County

SAN DIEGO, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Bumble Bee Foods, America's leading premium tuna brand and the producer and marketer of a full line of canned and pouched seafood products, has been recognized as the Corporate Partner of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is the nation's largest donor- and volunteer-supported mentoring network and provides youth facing adversity with one-to-one mentor relationships to improve their lives.

Bumble Bee was recognized for contributing substantial time and money to the local division of Big Brothers Big Sisters across all programs, supporting the Bigs in Schools Program at a local elementary school, allowing employees time off each week to volunteer and matching 100 percent of employee gifts to the organization.

"Big Brothers Big Sisters is a crucial organization that positively serves many of our local children," said Chris Lischewski, Bumble Bee Foods president and CEO and Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County Board of Directors member. "We've seen first-hand the positive influences these one-on-one mentoring relationships can have and we're honored to be recognized for our contributions."

"We appreciate that Bumble Bee Foods takes corporate community responsibility to the next level," said Deborah Condon, CEO and President of Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County.  "They walk the walk when it comes to investing their personal time and talent, in addition to providing vital financial support.  Partnerships with organizations such as Bumble Bee Foods are the cornerstone of our ability to serve more than 1,700 children who need caring adult mentors in their lives."

The Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego Board Executive Committee and Staff Leadership Team votes each year to award the Corporate Partner of the Year to an organization that provides significant assistance to Big Brothers Big Sisters by promoting and supporting the San Diego mentoring movement.

The award was given at Big Brothers Big Sisters' annual volunteer recognition event, titled "The Big Salute" held aboard the USS Midway in San Diego on Saturday, April 27. The annual event aims to celebrate volunteerism, recognizing the contributions of outstanding current volunteers and encouraging new volunteers to join.

About Bumble Bee Foods:
Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, headquartered in San Diego, is North America's largest branded shelf-stable seafood company, offering a full line of canned and pouched tuna, salmon, sardine, and specialty protein products marketed in the U.S. under leading brands including Bumble Bee^®, Brunswick^®, Snow's^® and Beach Cliff^®, and in Canada under the Clover Leaf^® brand. Bumble Bee's mission is to provide healthy and nutritious product and meal solutions that are sourced sustainably. Its BeeWell for Life^® brand philosophy and signature program by the same name encourage consumers to eat healthfully and deliciously while maintaining an active everyday lifestyle.

Bumble Bee is a founding member of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation — a first-of-kind initiative in the U.S. involving a coalition of retailers, non-profit organizations and food and beverage manufacturers with a mission to help reduce obesity, particularly childhood obesity by 2015. The company actively promotes the responsible stewardship of global fisheries resources and is a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) — a global partnership of scientists, tuna processors and WWF, the global conservation organization.

For more information on Bumble Bee Foods and the BeeWell for Life^® program, visit www.BumbleBee.com and www.BeeWellForLife.com. Join fans of Bumble Bee and healthy living at www.facebook.com/BumbleBeeFoods.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County:
For over 50 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County has provided children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better.  Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families, or households where a parent is incarcerated or has a parent deployed. As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers ("Bigs") and children ("Littles"). Big Brothers Big Sisters provides a system of on-going evaluation and support which is proven by independent studies to help families by improving the odds that "Littles" will perform better in school and avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others.

In San Diego County, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves children ages 7-18 through six distinct programs: Amachi (a program for children with an incarcerated parent), Bigs in Schools & High School Bigs (an after school 1:1 mentoring program), Community Mentoring (the traditional 1:1 mentoring program), Operation Bigs (a military mentoring program), and Sports Bigs (a sports and active lifestyle focused mentoring program). Learn how you can positively impact a child's life, donate or volunteer today at www.SDBigs.org or call (858) 536-4900.

SOURCE Bumble Bee Foods