Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Gerardo Parra, D-Backs staff and
UnitedHealthcare employees today are kicking off their joint “Pack the
House” initiative, which will provide 49,000 meals for children in need
- one meal for each seat at Chase Field. The two-time Gold Glove winner
and volunteers will pack food to support Kitchen on the Street’s Bags of
Hope program, which is aimed at fighting childhood hunger.
Thousands of children receive reduced-price meals during the school week
but do not get enough nourishment over the weekend. Bags of Hope
provides nutritious, kid-friendly meals and snacks, which include fruit
snacks, pretzels and fruit cups. The Bags are given to underserved
children who do not have access to school lunch programs during the
weekend.
This is the first in a series of three volunteer projects planned to
meet the goal of packing 49,000 meals. Other volunteer projects are
planned for May 14 and Aug. 27.
“We are grateful to continue to partner with the Arizona Diamondbacks
and Kitchen on the Street to help build a healthier community and
provide Phoenix-area children access to nutritious food,” said Jeri
Jones, west region president, UnitedHealthcare Community & State.
According to the Trust for America’s Health, nearly one in five children
in Arizona ages 10 to 17 are considered obese. There is a direct
correlation between obesity and hunger due to the limited availability
of healthy food options. Households with limited resources often try to
stretch their food budgets by purchasing inexpensive, energy-dense and
filling foods.
“Helping to solve hunger issues in the Valley is something that is very
important to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization,” said Derrick Hall,
president and CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks. “We are proud to partner with
past Grand Slam Award recipient Kitchen on the Street and
UnitedHealthcare to help fight childhood hunger.”
This project is the latest in UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.”
employee volunteer initiative, whose mission is to prevent hunger and
obesity, inspire service and encourage volunteerism in communities where
UnitedHealthcare employees live and work. The D-backs and Arizona
Diamondbacks Foundation have surpassed $37 million in combined donations
since their inception in 1998, and this season the D-backs have already
raised $200,000 from their 50-50 Raffle as well as a record $1.9 million
at Evening on the Diamond earlier this year.
For more information about the benefits of volunteering and to find
local opportunities to get involved, visit www.DoGoodLiveWell.org.
Follow @DoGoodLiveWell on Twitter or “like” Do Good. Live Well. on
Facebook.
About Kitchen on the Street
Kitchen on the Street began serving the community in 2007 when the
Scarpinato family learned about the prevalence of food insecurity in
local Arizona children. Hearing that thousands of children that received
breakfast and lunch at school but were going hungry on weekends
compelled Vince, Lisa and Taylor Scarpinato to found Kitchen on the
Street as a means of bringing food and hope to children in need. In 2007
Kitchen on the Street was limited to one program to serve the hungry
children of Phoenix, a food backpack program providing shelf stable
meals and snacks to food insecure children. As a volunteer driven faith
based non-profit organization, KOS relies on the community to meet the
needs of the hungry and hurting. Thanks to the generosity of
individuals, business owners and corporations in providing faithful
volunteers and provisional funding, various programs are available
throughout Arizona and in 2011 the Bags of Hope program began in San
Antonio, Texas.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live
healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting
consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships
with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health
benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid
beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 800,000 physicians
and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves more than 45 million
people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth
Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being
company.
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Copyright Business Wire 2014