Food is one of the basic necessities of life, and yet it is taken for granted by most of us. Food is a serious concern for many, and feeding the hungry is an important part of building stronger communities and a better world. "Partners on the Go" is a new hunger relief initiative launched by Ford Motor Company Fund and the Hispanic Federation. Ford has donated a Transit Connect van to the Federation to get the effort rolling.
"Ford is helping the Hispanic Federation fulfill a key need in the New York Latino community through the Partners on the Go initiative," said Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, president, Hispanic Federation. "Food insecurity is a growing problem in our community. The Transit Connect will enable us to provide additional resources to our member agencies' hunger-relief programs."
The launch of Partners on the Go also includes donation of 15,000 meals to the Los Sures food pantry. The Transit Connect will allow greater mobility to support food pantries throughout the five boroughs and nearly 100 local agencies.
"At Ford we support programs that help improve communities," said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. "Through our partnership with the Hispanic Federation we are proud to help New York City families get access to essential food needs."
Food Bank NYC says 43 percent of Hispanic residents experienced difficulty affording food in 2010, a substantially higher number than the national average for Hispanic households. Los Sures Food Pantry provides year-round support to some of the most vulnerable families in New York City.
"We are so grateful for Ford's food donation, which will allow us to provide much needed meals to the more than 450 families who rely on our food pantry monthly," said Robin Sirota Bassin, director, Social Service, Los Sures. "This donation is particularly important because our pantry shelves are literally almost bare during these tough economic times when funding is not secure."
Ford has a long history of supporting initiatives that help fight hunger. An ongoing relationship with Feeding America and Newman's Own to support the Partnership for Hunger Relief has delivered more than 78 million meals to people in hard-to-reach communities. Ford also launched the Ford Mobile Pantries program to help social service organizations pick up and distribute food to those in need. Ford Transit Connect Vans are now used in South Florida, Atlanta, Detroit, San Antonio, Phoenix and Nashville, and for Red Cross deliveries in Nashville and San Diego.
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