ING DIRECT hits the road with Five Hole for Food

The 13-city, 18-day tour aims to collect the equivalent of 250,000lbs of food for local food banks across Canada

TORONTO, July 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Beginning today, ING DIRECT is hitting the road with Five Hole for Food on a coast-to-coast tour aimed at raising food and awareness for local food banks. Ten ING DIRECT employees and their friends at Five Hole for Food will be making their way from Newfoundland to British Columbia, hosting free drop-in ball hockey games in exchange for non-perishable food donations.

"Taking a bus 11,000km across the country is certainly a first for ING DIRECT, but it demonstrates our willingness to travel far and wide to give back to our communities," said Andrew Zimakas, Chief Marketing Officer at ING DIRECT. "We believe in philanthropy beyond simply signing a cheque, and we know that teaming up with an outstanding not-for-profit organization like Five Hole for Food will benefit community food banks across the country. This is also a great opportunity to meet face-to-face with ING DIRECT clients across Canada and demonstrate our commitment to supporting communities where our customers and employees live and work."

Each of the 13 cities along the tour will host pick-up hockey games with the goal of collecting food for the city's local food bank. This year, the tour aims to collect the equivalent of 250,000 pounds of non-perishable food items for food banks across the country, nearly twice the amount collected last year. The ING DIRECT Cafés in Montreal, downtown Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver will also act as drop-off points for non-perishable food items.

"We are excited to team up with ING DIRECT for the fourth annual Five Hole for Food tour," said Richard Loat, CEO and founder of Five Hole for Food. "Hunger is an issue that strikes 10.8 million Canadians every day, not just during holiday season. There is no better way to raise food and create awareness that hunger is more than a seasonal issue than by bringing communities together using hockey as a vehicle for social change."

In addition to providing in-kind support on the 18 day tour, ING DIRECT has donated $20,000 to Five Hole for Food to help it reach its goal of collecting the equivalent of 250,000lbs of food this summer. ING DIRECT employees will also be organizing additional "Orange Missions" across the country, including planting a vegetable garden in Calgary to grow food for local food banks.

Canadians are invited to bring a hockey stick and a food or monetary donation to these 13 events*:

Wednesday, July 3, 2013
St. John's, NFLD
George St. outside Christian's
3 - 7pm

Friday, July 5, 2013
Halifax, NS
Emera Oval in Halifax Commons
3 - 7pm

Saturday, July 6, 2013
Charlottetown, PEI
Charlottetown Event Grounds
12 - 4pm

Sunday, July 7, 2013
Saint John, NB
The East parking lot beside Harbour Station
12 - 4pm

Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Montreal, QC
Place du Canada
3 - 7pm

Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Ottawa, ON
Sparks Street between Bank and O'Connor
11am - 4pm

Thursday, July 11, 2013
Toronto, ON
Yonge & Dundas Square
11am - 5pm

Saturday, July 13, 2013
Winnipeg, MB
Croydon at Cockburn
12 - 4pm

Sunday, July 14, 2013
Regina, SK
Scarth Street Mall
12 - 3pm

Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Calgary, AB
Eau Claire Market
2 - 6pm

Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Edmonton, AB
Centennial Plaza
4 - 8pm

Friday, July 19, 2013
Victoria, BC
Saanich Plaza off the Patricia Bay highway
2 - 6pm

Saturday, July 20, 2013
Vancouver, BC
Granville St. at Robson
12 - 6pm

For more information, visit ingdirect.ca/FHFF or follow the tour at oitc.tumblr.com

Details ING DIRECT's Community Investment, Sustainability and Sponsorship initiatives can be found in the 2012 Public Accountability Statement. To learn more, please go to theorangedifference.ca

*Dates and locations are subject to change.

About ING DIRECT

ING Bank of Canada, operating under the trade name of ING DIRECT, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Scotiabank. ING DIRECT is Canada's leading direct bank with over 1.8 million Clients and close to $40 billion in total assets. ING DIRECT is a bright way forward in everyday banking for Canadians, offering value added, simple products such as high interest savings accounts, including TFSAs, GICs and RSPs with no fees or service charges, low rates on mortgages and a no-fee, daily chequing account that actually pays interest. ING DIRECT has been operating in Canada since 1997, and has paid more than $5 billion in interest to Clients. ING DIRECT is open for banking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at ingdirect.ca, on mobile devices at m.ingdirect.ca or by calling 1-800 ING DIRECT (1-800-464-3473).

ING Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries have been acquired by The Bank of Nova Scotia and are no longer affiliated with ING Groep N.V. The trademarks ING, ING DIRECT, ING Lion, the ING Lion logo and any derivation, variation, translation or adaptation thereof are trademarks of ING Groep N.V. and are used under license.

SOURCE ING DIRECT