PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed, pitcher Chase Anderson, 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. 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 food, which includes 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 20 and Aug. 26. UnitedHealthcare, the D-backs and Kitchen on the Street partnered to “Pack the House” last year.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kitchen on the Street to ensure Phoenix-area children have access to nutritious food,” said Joe Gaudio, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Arizona.
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.
“The D-backs are committed to helping solve hunger issues in the Valley,” said D-backs President and CEO Derrick Hall. “One way that we plan to help fight childhood hunger is by teaming up once again with past Grand Slam Award recipient Kitchen on the Street and UnitedHealthcare to Pack the House and provide more than 49,000 meals.”
This project is the latest in UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” program, an employee-volunteer initiative aimed at preventing hunger and obesity, inspiring service and encouraging volunteerism. The D-backs and Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation have surpassed $41 million in combined donations since their inception in 1998, and this season the D-backs have already raised $1.6 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,
military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and
Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000
physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care
facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and
well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com
or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth Group.