Chrysler Group LLC Employees Drive to Fight Hunger at Thanksgiving in Southeast Michigan

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Nov. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Food Drive to Benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan and Lighthouse of Oakland County

• 1 in 8 Americans, including 600,000 in southeast Michigan, worry about where their next meal is coming from.
• Chrysler Group LLC's Thanksgiving Food Drive will feed an estimated 6,000 Southeast Michigan residents.
• Thousands more are expected to be helped by similar food drives in Toledo, Ohio; Kokomo, Ind.; Belvidere, Ill. and Washington, D.C.
   

Chrysler Group, The Chrysler Foundation and the UAW, are helping to make this holiday season brighter for hungry people in Southeast Michigan. From November 7 -17, Southeast Michigan employees have donated everything to provide a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner – from canned vegetables, cranberry sauce and fruit to pumpkin pie filling, stuffing mix and potatoes.

Today at 9:30 a.m., a caravan of Chrysler Group vehicles filled with food donated by hundreds of employees departed the company's headquarters for Lighthouse of Oakland County and Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. The caravan of vehicles were led by a 2012 Ram 1500 Special Service "Police" truck and escorted by the Auburn Hills Police Department and Oakland County Sheriff's Office. In addition to the donated non-perishable goods, 900 frozen turkeys were contributed to the food banks by The Chrysler Foundation.

"Not so long ago, when Chrysler needed critical support to get on the road to recovery, our communities stood behind us," said Jody Trapasso, President – The Chrysler Foundation. "Our food drive is an opportunity to help those most in need and to show gratitude to our communities."

Similar deliveries will take place in Toledo, Ohio; Kokomo, Ind.; and Belvidere, Ill. where Chrysler Group employees conducted food drives to benefit the Salvation Army and other local food banks. In Washington, D.C., Chrysler Group and The Chrysler Foundation will provide a grant to SOME (So Others Might Eat) in support of their efforts to feed senior citizens during the holiday. SOME is an interfaith, community-based organization that serves the homeless and destitute in the District of Columbia.

The food drive is expected to feed more than 6,000 people in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties. It is estimated that more than 12,000 people in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Washington, D.C. will be assisted by the Chrysler Group Thanksgiving food drive.

About The Chrysler Foundation

The Chrysler Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Chrysler Group LLC, was established in 1953 as a nonprofit entity, which has the sole purpose of enriching the physical, educational and cultural needs of its communities, including arts and culture, education, diversity, youth development and disaster relief.

In the past year, the Foundation provided support for tsunami relief efforts in Japan; tornado relief efforts in Dundee, Mich., and Perrysburg, Ohio; and earthquake relief in Haiti. The Foundation has also supported flood relief and cleanup programs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2008; wildfire disaster relief in San Diego in 2007; and Hurricane Katrina aid in 2005. Many of these initiatives also involved volunteer and in-kind support from Chrysler Group employees, retirees and dealers.

 

SOURCE Chrysler Group LLC