CANTON, Mass., Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – The Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation (DDBRCF) today announced a grant of $102,000 to Feeding America®, the country’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. The donation will help support child hunger relief through Feeding America initiatives such as its BackPack program, which provides hungry children with nutritious and easy-to-prepare food to take home on weekends and school vacations when other resources are not available.
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The DDBRCF grant will be distributed among eight food banks across the United States: Greater Boston Food Bank, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Philabundance, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Cleveland Food Bank, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Albuquerque Road Runners and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The donation was made possible in part from a grant from the Rich Family Foundation.
The DDBRCF has had a national partnership with Feeding America since 2007 and has donated nearly $1 million to support local food banks. Over the past four years, The DDBRCF has addressed the issue of hunger relief through both national and local efforts. Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins franchisees have led food drives in the communities they serve and have organized volunteer days at their local food banks to help fill backpacks filled with nutritious snacks for children.
Feeding America is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, with more than 200 member food banks serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Feeding America’s food banks secure and distribute 3 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually through a network of approximately 61,000 food assistance agencies, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and after-school programs. 37 million Americans receive food and groceries from Feeding America each year, including nearly 14 million children and 3 million senior citizens, and approximately 5.7 million Americans receive the Feeding America network every week.
According to Karen Raskopf, Co-Chair of The Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communications at Dunkin’ Brands, “Our Foundation is committed to working with Feeding America to help eradicate hunger, particularly childhood hunger, in the communities we serve. Dunkin’ Brands and our franchisees are proud of our support of this cause and look forward to continuing to support the Feeding America network of food banks in the fight to end hunger.”
“Nearly 49 million people – approximately 1 in 6 Americans – struggle with hunger, including more than 16 million children. Every day, working families in every neighborhood are forced to choose between food, rent and medicine,” said Leah Ray, Feeding America’s Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. “The support of our partners has never been more crucial, and we are extremely grateful to The Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation for their generous grant to help us combat hunger.”
Since 2006, The Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation has donated more than $2.5 million to organizations that share its mission of providing food, safety and children’s health to communities across the country. In 2011, DDBRCF grants included $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters and $52,500 to the USO National Office. Regional grants supporting safety were made totaling $21,600 to Chuck Cassidy Scholarship Fund (fallen police officer), Police Officers Assistance Trust, Police Unity Tour, USO of Metro Washington and Wia Kia (Injured Soldiers).
About The Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation
The Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation brings together a wide network of stakeholders, including franchisees, crew members and employees. The focus of the Foundation is to serve our neighborhoods by taking care of their basic needs – safety, hunger relief and children’s health.
About Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc.
With more than 16,500 points of distribution in nearly 60 countries worldwide, Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. (DNKN) is one of the world’s leading franchisors of quick service restaurants (QSR) serving hot and cold coffee and baked goods, as well as hard-serve ice cream. At the end of 2011, Dunkin’ Brands’ nearly 100 percent franchised business model included more than 10,000 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants and more than 6,400 Baskin-Robbins restaurants. For the full-year 2010, the company had system-wide sales of approximately $7.7 billion. Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. is headquartered in Canton, Mass.
About Feeding America
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.
Contact:
Jessica Gioglio
Dunkin’ Brands
781-737-5200
Jessica.Gioglio@dunkinbrands.com
SOURCE Dunkin’ Donuts Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation
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