Ford Volunteers Are Giving And Sharing By Helping Feed The Hungry On Accelerated Action Day

* The Ford Volunteer Corps is packing meals and serving food on a Ford Accelerated Action Day focused on feeding the hungry.
* Hundreds of Ford volunteers are participating in dozens of hunger-relief projects.
* Ford Accelerated Action Days are part of the company’s continuing efforts to create a better world and improve the lives of people in need through community service.

DEARBORN, Mich. - The Ford Volunteer Corps is stocking shelves, packing meals and serving food on a Ford Accelerated Action Day dedicated to feeding the hungry. Hundreds of Ford employee and retiree volunteers are on the job in local shelters, missions and food distribution centers.

Giving and Sharing is the theme of this Ford Accelerated Action Day and volunteers are answering an urgent call to help people in need during these difficult economic times. There are 600,000 to 700,000 people in southeast Michigan alone who do not know where their next meal will come from. Ford volunteers and our nonprofit agency partners are packaging and distributing food to help people meet one of the basic necessities of human life - nutrition.

“Hunger is a painful reality for far too many people who go to bed hungry each night in our local communities,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “Giving of our time and sharing our resources are two ways Ford and its volunteers can help ease that pain and take another step toward our goal of making the world a better place.”

Many of the organizations benefiting from today’s volunteer effort also receive mini-grants of up to $5,000 from Ford to buy food and other items needed to complete their projects. More than $60,000 in mini-grants has been awarded to participating agencies, including:

* Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Detroit – assemble food packages for 1,000 family members
* Cass Community Social Services, Detroit – prepare and serve lunch for shelter residents
* Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, Detroit – pack food baskets for 750 people
* Fish & Loaves Community Food Pantry, Taylor – sort food for more than 400 households
* Focus Hope, Detroit – assemble 4,000 food boxes that will be delivered to homebound seniors
* Food Gatherers, Ann Arbor – pack 720 food boxes for seniors and families
* Gleaners Community Food Bank, Detroit, Pontiac – pack more than 10,000 meals for distribution
* Lighthouse of Oakland County, Pontiac – prepare 550 food boxes
* Matrix Human Services, Detroit – assemble and distribute food baskets
* Ruth Ellis Center, Highland Park – stock food pantry and organize warehouse
* Salvation Army, Detroit, Westland – serve holiday luncheon, distribute food to homeless
* St. Vincent DePaul, Detroit, Hazel Park – pack food boxes for families

This Ford Accelerated Action Day is one of many efforts by the company and its employees to feed the hungry. Ford Motor Company Fund also contributed $35,000 to support the Meals on Wheels holiday program in Southeast Michigan. Ford volunteers this year will help pack and deliver more than 11,000 meals to homebound seniors on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Earlier this year, Ford teamed up with local dealers and hunger relief agencies to distribute more than 500,000 meals in southeastern Michigan, and Ford volunteers created urban gardens to provide food to local shelters and missions.

“Feeding hungry families is one of the most important things we can do to ease suffering and restore hope during the holiday season,” said Janet Lawson, director, Ford Volunteer Corps. “And we won’t stop when the calendar changes. We will continue Ford’s tradition of caring throughout the year"

Ford Accelerated Action Days are concentrated one-day efforts to meet critical needs identified by our agency partners. Each Ford Accelerated Action Day is centered on a particular theme. This is the fifth Ford Accelerated Action Day in 2009. In March, we addressed the needs of Children and Families. The environment and creating a Better World was the focus in May. Community Building was the theme during Ford Global Week of Caring in September, and volunteers supported Veterans and Military Families in November.

In 2009, 16,000 Ford employees and retirees have volunteered more than 77,000 hours to help people in their local communities. Ford Motor Company encourages salaried employees to take two work days per year and volunteer their services in their communities.

About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services
Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services is a community relations and philanthropic
nonprofit funded by Ford Motor Company. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2009, Ford Fund supports initiatives and institutions that foster and promote innovation in education, greater automotive safety and American heritage and diversity. National programs include Ford Partnership for Advance Studies (Ford PAS), which provides a 21st century skills-based curriculum to more than 40,000 high school students; and Ford Driving Skills for Life, which has taught safe driving skills to more than 337,000 young drivers. In addition, the Ford Volunteer Corps, established in 2005, enlists the help of thousands of Ford employees and retirees who volunteer their time to continue Ford’s legacy of community service worldwide. For more information about programs made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, please visit www.community.ford.com.