Cleveland (November 10, 2005) - How much do the 400 Northeast Ohio food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies pay for frozen turkeys and chickens at the Cleveland Foodbank? This holiday season, the birds are nearly free, thanks to a $55,000 grant from the Charter One Foundation.
At 10 a.m., on Thursday, November 10, Charter One volunteers will load poultry into the vans and trucks of food bank member agencies, and will prepare complete turkey dinners for delivery to local hunger centers. The distribution will take place at the Cleveland Foodbank, 15500 South Waterloo Road.
"In years past, the Cleveland Foodbank purchased turkeys and chickens at wholesale prices and offered them to member agencies at a discounted price for the holidays," said Anne Campbell Goodman, executive director of the Cleveland Foodbank. "To help our agencies feed even more people this year, Charter One underwrote the costs associated with the program. Charter One Bank's generosity allows for our first-ever turkey giveaway and the largest amount we've ever distributed."
Charter One's contribution to the new Carving Out Hunger initiative will cover the cost of 19,312 turkeys and chickens that weigh in at 40 tons and will feed more than 92,000 hungry men, women and children.
"Charter One Bank is proud to partner with the Cleveland Foodbank to make thousands of dinners available at no cost to local hunger agencies and the community members they serve," said Ned Handy, President and CEO of Charter One Bank, Ohio. "Charter One truly believes in the work of the Cleveland Foodbank, and we have demonstrated our commitment to its mission though our checking account donation promotion during the last holiday season and by volunteering at the food bank to repackage food for delivery to agencies. This year, we wanted to identify an even bigger way to make a positive impact on the less fortunate men, women and children in our communities.
Carving Out Hunger launches the Cleveland Foodbank's first Holiday Drive to raise public awareness and $800,000 to help fight hunger throughout the holidays and into the New Year. The holiday season is the food bank's busiest time of year, often distributing more than 100,000 pounds of food a day. The drive begins November 10 and continues through the end of the year.
Additional food costs will be covered by The Cleveland Browns, which made a commitment of $5,000 to the Foodbank's Holiday Drive, as well as by a small handling fee charged to the agencies to ensure the distribution of food is equitable.
Charter One Bank also donated a total of $14,500 for holiday food programs to other food banks across Ohio including the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank, Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Second Harvest Foodbank of Mahoning Valley, Freestore Foodbank and Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank.
The Cleveland Foodbank serves as a clearinghouse for surplus food in the Greater Cleveland area. It provides food and critical nonfood products to more than 400 nonprofit programs serving hungry individuals across northeast Ohio, 36 percent of them being children. In 2004, it distributed roughly 18 million pounds of food to more than 400 local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies such as child-care centers and homes for the elderly. To support the food bank's 2005 Holiday Drive, call 216-738-2265 or visit www.clevelandfoodbank.org.
Charter One Bank, N.A., is a $41 billion bank operating in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It has more than 490 branches and 812 ATMs. It has 177 branches and 186 ATMs in Ohio. Charter One is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $148 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,100 ATMs and more than 27,000 employees in a 13-state retail branch network and non-branch offices in more than 30 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). The Charter One Web site is charterone.com.