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Ford Volunteers Help Feed The Hungry On A Ford Accelerated Action Day Of Giving And Sharing


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* The Ford Volunteer Corps is stocking shelves, packing food and serving meals on a Ford Accelerated Action Day focused on feeding the hungry.
* Hundreds of Ford volunteers are participating in dozens of hunger-relief projects in their local communities.
* This Ford Accelerated Action Day is one of many company supported efforts designed to feed the hungry and support communities.

DEARBORN, Mich. - The Ford Volunteer Corps is cooking, delivering and collecting food as it sends MODEL Teams of volunteers into local communities to help feed the hungry. During today’s Ford Accelerated Action Day, hundreds of Ford employee and retiree volunteers are stocking shelves in food storage warehouses, packing holiday food boxes for families in need and serving meals in soup kitchens.

Ford volunteers are answering an urgent call to help. Each day hundreds of thousands of people in southeast Michigan struggle to find food. Ford employees – in partnership with local nonprofit hunger relief agencies – are helping to distribute food and feed people in shelters, missions and family centers.

“Hunger is a painful reality for many people in our local communities,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We are thankful that we have the resources to share with our neighbors in need.”

Many of the organizations participating in today’s volunteer effort also receive Ford mini-grants of up to $5,000 to buy food and other items needed to complete their projects. More than $50,000 in mini-grants has been awarded to participating agencies, including:

* Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Detroit – assemble 750 food boxes that feed a family of four
* Fish & Loaves Food Pantry, Taylor – sort 168,000 pounds of food purchased with Ford grant
* Focus Hope, Detroit – assemble 4,000 food boxes for area seniors
* Food Gatherers, Ann Arbor – pack 750 food boxes containing 25 meals each
* Gleaners Community Food Bank, Pontiac – fill 950 weekend meal backpacks for children
* Ruth Ellis Center, Highland Park – stock food pantry and pack meals for street outreach
* St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen, Detroit – prepare and serve lunch for more than 200 people
* Salvation Army-Harbor Light, Detroit – serve meals to 3,000 homeless people
* Southwest Housing Solutions, Detroit – cook and serve holiday meals for residents
* Veteran’s Haven, Wayne – coat drive, and sort food for distribution to 225 veterans and their families

In addition to the Ford Accelerated Action Day, Ford is a sponsor of the holiday Meals on Wheels program for thousands of seniors in Michigan.

Nine specially equipped vehicles recently were added to a fleet of 98 refrigerated trucks that are being used to collect and distribute food in all 50 states. Part of a ten-year partnership with Newman’s Own and Feeding America, the trucks have traveled more than 5.7 million miles and delivered more than 130 million meals.

Ford also created a fun way for high school students in southeast Michigan to get involved through Dec. 12. Students in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County high schools can compete for a school-wide pizza party and school supplies by collecting canned goods and non-perishable packaged food items and using them to build a look-alike Ford Explorer. Contest details are available at www.clickondetroit.com. Pictures of school entries will be posted on this site, where the public can vote on the three finalists on Dec. 13 and 14. Tips for building the Explorer can be found on facebook.com/pages/Ford-in-the-Community. After the contest, Gleaners Food Bank will pick up and distribute the donated food in the tri-county area.

“Ford is continuing a long tradition of caring and community service by addressing one of the most basic of human needs,“ said Janet Lawson, director, Ford Volunteer Corps. “Collecting food and feeding people is an important step toward creating a better world.”
In 2010, more than 20,000 Ford employees and retirees have volunteered to help people in local communities around the world.

About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services works to build communities through partnerships that support education, driving safety and American heritage and community life. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2009 and made possible by funding from Ford Motor Company, its programs include Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies, which provides high school students with academically rigorous, interactive learning experiences, and Ford Driving Skills for Life, an award-winning teen-focused driving safety program. Through the Ford Volunteer Corps, more than 20,000 Ford employees and retirees participate in a wide range of volunteer projects in dozens of countries around the world. For more information, visit www.community.ford.com.



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