Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC
Receives Gift from
Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Winston-Salem, NC – December 14, 2009 – Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC has received a $12,500 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The food bank will use the gift to support the expansion of its BackPack Program, one of several childhood hunger programs Second Harvest Food Bank operates.

 “More than 422,000 children in North Carolina are food insecure – unable to consistently access adequate amounts of nutritious food that is necessary for a healthy life,” said Clyde Fitzgerald, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank. “Even one hungry child is too many. The dismal ranking of our state regarding childhood hunger is totally unacceptable to all who are allied in feeding our hungry neighbors. Hunger is a solvable problem and we thank Bank of America for being such an important part of the solution.”

“Ensuring vulnerable populations in our community have access to basic services is a critical component to revitalizing the economy,” said Greg Cox, Winston-Salem City Executive for Bank of America. “We are proud to support Second Harvest Food Bank’s efforts to provide a valuable service to the eighteen counties in Northwest North Carolina at a time when nonprofits are struggling to provide significantly increased services to the thousands of families who are having enormous difficulty making ends meet.”

The BackPack Program addresses childhood hunger in rural communities by providing elementary school children at risk of hunger with backpacks full of nutritious, child-friendly foods to take home over the weekends during the school year. Second Harvest Food Bank provides grants to operate the programs and collaborates with its partner agencies, faith communities, schools and other community groups to manage day-to-day operations of the programs.