CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dole Food Company has renewed its partnership in 2022 with No Kid Hungry, a campaign to end childhood hunger in America. The company’s alliance with the national campaign first began in summer 2020 in response to the impact of COVID-19 when schools closed and millions more U.S. children were left facing hunger.
The strategic partnership between No Kid Hungry and one of the world’s largest providers of fresh fruits and vegetables resulted in direct product donations in impacted cities, nutrition education and at-retail initiatives to address hunger and ensure all children have access to three healthy meals a day.
Encouraged by their collective achievements in the fight to eliminate childhood hunger, the two brands look to expand the partnership in 2022 through new initiatives designed in part to counter the pandemic’s prolonged effect. Dole will serve as the presenting sponsor of Get Fit for No Kid Hungry, a series of free livestream wellness and fitness sessions throughout January to raise money to ensure that every child in America gets the healthy food they need to thrive.
“Prior to the pandemic, the number of children living with hunger dropped to the lowest level in decades,” said Diana Hovey, Senior Vice President, Corporate Partnerships at Share our Strength. “Once the pandemic hit however, school buildings closed, millions of parents lost their jobs and the number of children living with hunger skyrocketed. Many of the challenges we faced were new, but thanks in part to partners like Dole, we had the resources, the relationships and the know-how to immediately respond to help feed kids and families that needed it most.”
“Of course, there is still much more work to be done – and we are honored to take our partnership with Dole to the next level. Both brands envision a future where all communities have access to the food they need to grow, learn, and achieve, regardless of their circumstances or the current challenges to food access.”
“At Dole we want to keep improving situations for communities in the areas where we operate,” said William Goldfield, Dole Food Company’s director of corporate communications. “We care about being a positive force of change in peoples’ everyday lives. Addressing hunger and food insecurity for children is at the core of our purpose as a fresh produce company. Promoting health & wellbeing and driving consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is one way we can help every day.”
About Dole Food Company, Inc.
Dole Food Company, Inc., is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.
About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, 1 in 6 kids could face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Learn more at https://www.nokidhungry.org/.
