Sodexo's 2010 'Feeding Our Future®' Program to Provide More Than 320,000 Healthy Summer Lunches to Needy Children in 20 Cities

GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Even as Congress continues its work to reauthorize the Child Nutrition bill, the Sodexo Foundation's "Feeding Our Future®" program, in partnership with Sodexo clients and hunger relief organizations across the country, today announces that it will prepare and serve more than 320,000 lunches to children in need this summer.

"A country this rich in resources, capital and ingenuity should not see a single child suffer even one day of hunger," said Stephen J. Brady, president of the Sodexo Foundation. "Unfortunately the reality is that even with existing summer food service programs, millions of children who rely on school breakfast and lunch programs risk hunger or malnutrition once the school year ends – making programs like Feeding Our Future essential." 

Feeding Our Future is now entering its 14th year and will be providing more than 320,000 summer lunches in 20 cities including: Atlanta, Ga., Boston, Mass., Buffalo, N.Y., Camden, N.J., Chattanooga, Tenn., Chicago, Ill.,  Denver, Colo., Detroit, Mich., Fort Worth, Texas, Honolulu, Hawaii, Houston, Texas, Los Angeles, Calif.,  Miami, Fla., New York, N.Y., Oklahoma City, Okla., San Jose, Calif., St. Cloud, Minn., St. Louis, Mo., Terre Haute, Ind. and Washington, D.C.  

The Sodexo Foundation, the independent charitable organization of Sodexo, Inc., has provided free lunches to children through its summer feeding program, Feeding Our Future, since 1997. Established to support hunger-related initiatives that focus on eliminating the root causes of hunger in the U.S., the Sodexo Foundation provides grants for the purchase of food which is prepared at Sodexo locations. Sodexo employees work closely with local community organizations who distribute the meals to children at more than 110 sites across the country.

Since Feeding Our Future's inception, Sodexo has provided more than 2.1 million free summer lunches to hungry children in the U.S. Sodexo pays all administrative costs of the Foundation to ensure that all money raised is directed to those in need.

For more details, please visit www.helpstophunger.org.

About Sodexo

Sodexo in North America

Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), a member of Sodexo Group, is a leading provider of Comprehensive Service Solutions serving more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care, retirement, schools, higher education, government and remote sites. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., Sodexo, Inc. operates in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with $7.7 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. The Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org) is an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $12.7 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions

Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations.  Based on this conviction, Sodexo is the strategic partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and well-being, as it has since Pierre Bellon founded the company in 1966. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo's 380,000 employees, in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivaled range of On-site Service Solutions and Motivation Solutions. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates and to the fulfillment of its employees.

SOURCE Sodexo, Inc.