The Unilever US Foundation, in the name of its Ben and Jerry’s plants, is providing a $20,000 grant to the Vermont Foodbank. The local donation is part of a national commitment of $200,000 from the Unilever US Foundation to address child hunger through grants to 10 Feeding America member food banks and is part of the nationwide partnership between Unilever and Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. has worked with the Vermont Foodbank for more than 20 years.  In addition to this donation, employees of the plant will be personally collecting and delivering food, as well as volunteering at the Foodbank.

“This grant is part of our ongoing commitment to improving the lives of people in the communities in which we serve.  We are thrilled to be working with Vermont Foodbank to support those in need,” said Rob Bellezza, Supply Leader Vermont Manufacturing for Ben & Jerry’s.

Based in communities where the company operates, Unilever is helping to support Feeding America programs that focus on child hunger, reaching children at times when they are most in need: in the summer, afterschool, and over weekends and during school vacations. One in five children in the United States is living in a food-insecure household.

According to John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank CEO, the grant funds will be used to support the BackPack Program in Winooski and Berlin for the 2013-2014 school year.  “Unilever has been a trusted partner to Feeding America and now the Vermont Foodbank for more than two decades,” said Sayles. “We are grateful to Unilever for generously supporting child hunger programs that serve communities where their employees live and work and for their continued efforts to help fight hunger across the country.”

Since 2007, Unilever has provided more than 20 million pounds of product and approximately $3.3 million to help alleviate hunger.

# # #

About Unilever United States, Inc.

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. In the United States the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Good Humor, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond’s, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragú, Simple, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemmé, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone.  All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living/.

Unilever employs more than 10,000 people in the United States – generating over $9 billion in sales in 2012. For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com.

Jeff Graubard
Unilever
201-894-7592
jeffrey.graubard@unilever.com

About Vermont Foodbank

Vermont Foodbank is the state’s largest hunger-relief organization, serving communities in all 14 counties of Vermont through a network of more than 280 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers and after-school programs. In FY2012, the Vermont Foodbank distributed more than 8 million pounds of food to as many as 86,000 Vermonters.  The Vermont Foodbank, a member of Feeding America, is nationally recognized as one of the most effective and efficient nonprofits and food banks in the nation.  To learn more about hunger in your community and to take action against hunger and poverty in Vermont, visit us on the web at www.vtfoodbank.org

Judy Stermer
Vermont Foodbank
802-505-0699
jstermer@vtfoodbank.org