'Building the Future Together' kicks off third year aiding schools in seven U.S. cities

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK / ACCESSWIRE / September 22, 2022 / To support students in underserved communities, Frito-Lay and Feed the Children are launching the third year of 'Building the Future Together' in seven key cities across the U.S. To officially kick off this year's partnership, the organizations are teaming up with Detroit Public Schools Saturday, Sept. 24 for a community distribution event serving 800 families.

'Building the Future Together' is a program that originally launched as part of a partnership over the last decade between Feed the Children, a leading nonprofit focused on alleviating childhood hunger, and Frito-Lay. The program supplements school meals with shelf-stable food items while also providing school supplies, personal care products and books. Underserved school districts across Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando and Phoenix will benefit from the initiative again this year.

'Food insecurity impacts and affects academic success. It impacts social emotional health and the overall well-being of any person, but particularly our students,' said Cindy Tercero, community engagement manager for Phoenix Union High School District. 'You see this immediate sense of relief when students visit the Resource Room because they don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.'

Building the Future Together Resource Rooms have become a safety net for many families, providing consistent access to both food and hygiene items. During the 2021-22 school year, sites with Building the Future Together Resource Rooms saw an increase in student attendance as well as increase in student confidence. Ten percent of sites even reported an improvement in students' overall grades.

'The success of our communities begins with the people who live and work in those communities, and this includes our youth. Student needs expand beyond book and academic resources; we are committed to the success of the whole student, which means ensuring they have access to food and hygiene items on a consistent basis as part of our commitment to their success,' said Rachel Hibbs, Region Vice President, Frito-Lay North America. 'Partnering with the 'Building the Future Together' program reinforces our longstanding commitment, and our responsibility to tackle food insecurity by ensuring access and resources to thousands of underserved students.'

Frito-Lay and Feed the Children are hoping to continue the success the program saw during the 2021-22 school year where nearly 50,000 families across 232 schools in the target cities were served. Through this initiative, the organizations provided more than $5.4 million in resources including 700,000 pounds of food - supplementing more than 262,000 meals - last school year alone.

'Children cannot thrive unless their basic needs are met,' said Travis Arnold, president and CEO, Feed the Children. 'A widespread issue like childhood hunger will only be solved when enough people work together. Partners like Frito-Lay are vital to our mission as we serve vulnerable communities in cities across the United States.'

About Frito-Lay North America

Frito-Lay North America is the $19 billion convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Frito-Lay snacks include Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Doritos tortilla chips, Cheetos snacks, Tostitos tortilla chips and branded dips, SunChips multigrain snacks and Fritos corn chips. The company operates 30+ manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and Canada, more than 200 distribution centers and services 315,000 retail customers per week through its direct-store-delivery model. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, www.fritolay.com, on Twitter (@fritolay), on Instagram (@fritolay) and on Facebook (Frito-Lay).

About Feed the Children

At Feed the Children, we feed hungry kids. We envision a world where no child goes to bed hungry. In the U.S. and internationally, we are dedicated to helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow, while providing food and resources to help them today. We distribute product donations from corporate donors to local community partners, we provide support for teachers and students, and we mobilize resources quickly to aid recovery efforts when natural disasters strike. Internationally, we manage child-focused community development programs in eight countries. We welcome partnerships because we know our work would not be possible without collaborative relationships. Visit feedthechildren.org for more information.

For more information:

Carrie Snodgrass - 405-213-9757
carrie.snodgrass@feedthechildren.org

Valeria Rivas
valeria.rivas@pepsico.com

SOURCE: Feed The Children