Dole Packaged Foods, LLC Brings Annual Company Commitment Of 1.5 Million-Pound Hunger Relief Food Donation To Fruition With National "Let Sunshine In, Drive Hunger Out" Campaign

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Feb 07, 2019, 08:04 ET

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Feb. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, a premier provider of fruit products including shelf stable fruit, dried fruit, frozen fruit and juice, announced today another successful annual delivery of 1.5 million pounds of sunshine nationwide. With its "Let Sunshine In, Drive Hunger Out" campaign, the company helped hundreds of underserved communities provide nutritious high-quality food for their families.

Dole Packaged Foods is dedicated to hunger relief and stocking food banks across the country with more sunshine where it's needed most. More than 46 million Americans, including 12 million children and 7 million seniors, rely on food pantries and meal programs to feed themselves and their families.¹ Of those U.S. households receiving hunger relief assistance, 79 percent report purchasing inexpensive and unhealthy food to feed their families. Dole Packaged Foods is on a mission to combat the rampant food insecurity issues in underserved communities by supporting the concept of culinary dignity – the right of every family to have access to high-quality, nutritious foods regardless of where they shop for groceries.

"At Dole, we believe every day deserves more sunshine. But for millions of families, that sunshine is dimmed by the impacts of hunger," said Stan Stuka, Senior Director of Marketing, Dole Packaged Foods. "Food insecurity has affected communities throughout America for generations, and the concept of culinary dignity is Dole's way of going one step further to eliminate the stigma many families and individuals may feel when they turn to community resources to help make ends meet during their times of need. Our goal with culinary dignity is to instill a sense of pride among food bank patrons around the high-quality, nutritious ingredients and products they bring home to their families."

Dole Packaged Foods is committed to changing the discussion around food insecurity and culinary dignity. To inspire new and easy ways to incorporate more sunshine into everyone's kitchen, the company will continue to donate packaged fruit and will also share recipe booklets with food banks across the country. For more details on how to create accessible, on-trend recipes using ingredients and products found at food banks, visit DoleSunshine.com/HungerRelief.

About Dole Packaged Foods, LLC

Dole Packaged Foods, LLC is a world leader in growing, sourcing, distributing and marketing fruit and healthy snacks. Dole sells a full-line of packaged ambient fruit, frozen fruit, dried fruit, and juices. The company focuses on four pillars of sustainability: water management, carbon footprint, soil conservation and waste reduction. For more information please visit DoleSunshine.com or Doleintlcsr.com.

¹ Feeding America, "Hunger in America 2014 National Report," http://help.feedingamerica.org/HungerInAmerica/hunger-in-america-2014-full-report.pdf?s_src=W191DIRCT&s_subsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.feedingamerica.org%2Fresearch%2Fhunger-in-america&_ga=2.112327748.177917153.1548285852-769749368.1548285852

SOURCE Dole Packaged Foods, LLC