Free Nutritious Lunches in Halton Region for Children in Need

TORONTO, July 26 /CNW/ - This summer, the Sodexo Foundation in partnership with Appleby College and Food for Life/ReFresh Foods launched the Feeding Our Future(R) program and will be providing 5,000 free lunches to high-need children in within Halton Region.

The Sodexo Foundation has been very fortunate to work closely with hunger agencies, clients of Sodexo, manufacturer and supplier partners and many Sodexo employee and family volunteers to make this initiative a reality. Feeding Our Future(R) has become a shining example of how communities and corporations can collaborate together to make a real difference. Now in its 11th year, Feeding Our Future(R) has provided over 550,000 free meals to at risk children across Canada.

What people are saying about the program:

Sodexo's Feeding Our Future program has made a significant difference in the lives of over 200 Halton children in need. The donated lunches offer a healthy and nutritious meal during the children's camp experience. - Charlotte Redekop-Young, Executive Director Food for Life.

"Appleby College has enjoyed a strong longstanding community connection within Halton region and we are delighted to build upon this with the recent launch of Feeding our Future, alongside our partners at Sodexo. Helping feed today's youth so that they can grow and proposer for a lifetime means a great deal to our campus community." - Guy McLean, Principal at Appleby College.

Celebrity Chef Michael Smith is the national spokesperson for the Sodexo Foundation, and is passionate about fighting hunger. "Sadly there are thousands of children in this country who don't look forward to summer because it means they don't get their school breakfast or lunch. Through Feeding Our Future(R), we at the Sodexo Foundation and our partners across the country are collaborating to ensure that these kids will have at least one healthy meal a day."

Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations. Based on this conviction, Sodexo acts as the strategic partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and employee well-being. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo's 380,000 employees in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivalled array of On-site Service Solutions and Motivation Solutions. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the fulfillment of its employees and the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates.

In Canada Sodexo launched the STOP Hunger Association in 2000 and formed the charitable organization, the Sodexo Foundation in 2001 to help fight hunger as it affects over 5 million Canadians.

ReFresh Foods is a food logistics and redistribution program for Halton Region. We collect surplus perishable (including fresh & frozen) and non-perishable food products for redistribution to local food banks and social service agencies. ReFresh Foods is a Halton collaboration led by Food for Life Canada. FFL is a registered charity operating seven days a week collecting surplus food from bakeries, restaurants and, supermarkets for distribution to local charities. Food for Life Canada distributes over $825,000 of food per year.

For further information: including supporting pictures please contact: Jon Kristjanson, Senior Vice President, Sodexo, Executive Director, Sodexo Foundation, 905-632-8592 ext.33250, [email protected], www.sodexo.ca; Manager Corporate Food Solicitation, ReFresh Foods, Office: 905-873-7082, Cell: 289-839-1178, [email protected], refreshfoods.ca