Raleigh, NC – The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, in collaboration with Triangle companies for the eighth annual Sort-A-Rama event, today announced it met a record number of meals packed for families in need. Over 1,000 corporate volunteers united to sort and package 200,000 meals for local families facing hunger.


The event took place on Thursday, May 23, at the Jim Graham Building on the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Sort-A-Rama is the Food Bank’s largest volunteer event. Beginning in 2012, Sort-A-Rama volunteers have now packed and sorted more than one million meals for distribution to individuals, families, and seniors in need through the Food Bank’s partner agencies in their 34-county service area.


The presenting partners for the 2019 Sort-A-Rama were BASF, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Cisco, and Food Lion.

Additional sponsors included Allscripts, UNC Rex Healthcare, Bank of America, Dude Solutions, Duke Energy, Nationwide Insurance, NetApp, and RTI International.  

For more information about the 2019 Sort-A-Rama, please visit foodbankcenc.org/sortarama. 


QUOTES: 


“We are so grateful to the Triangle companies that continue to support Sort-A-Rama,” said Peter Werbicki, Food Bank President & CEO. “This event has provided more than 1 million meals for the working families, kids, and seniors we serve every day.” 


“BASF is an innovator in providing technologies to help farmers in the production of food, so helping provide adequate food to our North Carolina neighbors is central to our mission,” said Paul Rea, Senior Vice President, BASF Crop Protection, North America.  “With over 650,000 people in eastern and central North Carolina who are food insecure, our employee volunteers are eager to be part of Sort-A-Rama to help in this important work to prepare food for those in need across the state.”


“Blue Cross NC is committed to improving the health and well-being of our communities, and we can’t do that without addressing the widespread food insecurity in our state.  It’s of the utmost importance that we work to eliminate hunger and join with other leading organizations to make this vision a reality,” said Reagan Greene Pruitt, Vice President of Integrated Marketing & Community Engagement.


“Cisco’s employee volunteers step up whenever we can be a bridge to those in need in our local communities,” said Kirsten Weeks, Director of Global Community Relations for Cisco.  “Sort-A-Rama is an incredible opportunity to engage our employees, and partner with other companies, to support the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina as it works to solve a central challenge for many of our neighbors.” 


"At Food Lion, we believe that no one should have to choose between dinner and rent or gasoline and buying groceries," said Troy Leshko, Vice President of Food Lion's Mid-Atlantic Division. "That's why we're so passionate about working with partners like the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina to end hunger in our local communities through Food Lion Feeds. Events like Sort-A-Rama provide a meaningful way for our associates to directly engage in helping to feed those in our community who need a helping hand, especially during the summer months when childhood hunger rises given schools are closed. Whether it's in a Food Lion store, at Sort-A-Rama or anywhere in our community, we want Raleigh to know: you can count on your local Food Lion team."

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Media Contact:
Jennifer Caslin
jcaslin@foodbankcenc.org
910-508-0547

About the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina 
The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina is a nonprofit organization that has provided food for people at risk of hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina for more than 35 years. The Food Bank serves a network of more than 800 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and programs for children and adults through warehouses in Durham, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, the Sandhills (Southern Pines), and Wilmington. In fiscal year 2017-2018, the Food Bank distributed nearly 70 million pounds of food (over half of which was perishable) and non-food essentials through these agencies. Sadly, hunger remains a serious problem in central and eastern North Carolina. In these counties, more than 600,000 people struggle to access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for an active and healthy life. foodbankcenc.org.