Grant Will Allow Food Lifeline’s Kids Cafe Program To Serve Five Times More Children

Boeing will donate $1 million to help expand Food Lifeline’s Kids Cafe meals program in Washington state in an increased effort to fight childhood hunger, the company announced Tuesday.

“Boeing is committed to supporting and giving back to the communities where our employees work and live,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “By investing in the Kids Cafe program, we hope to play a key role in reducing childhood hunger in the neighborhoods that I and all our employees care so deeply about.”

The donation from Boeing will be distributed over five years and will be used to help expand the meals program to additional sites in Western Washington. Over the period of the grant, the funding will allow Food Lifeline to scale the program from serving 200 children to serving more than 1,000 kids starting in 2016.

“Food Lifeline is so grateful to find such a solid and generous partner in Boeing,” said Linda Nageotte, president and CEO of Food Lifeline. “Their support will not only help feed hungry children throughout Western Washington, but help to expand our reach. This will ensure more kids in more communities receive nutritious meals and snacks year round, especially during the summer months when free and reduced meals go away. Boeing is truly making a difference in the lives of thousands of children.”

Today’s announcement was made at the Seattle Seahawks training facility in Renton to put an added emphasis on the complementary goals of providing children with good nutrition in addition to living a fit and active lifestyle. Food Lifeline’s Kids Cafe program partners with Boys & Girls Clubs and other organizations to bring healthy food to after school and summer meal programs in high-need communities.

“Providing our members with healthy snacks and meals has always been a vital component of our services,” said Kathy Haggart, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue. “Food Lifeline has allowed us to greatly improve the quality of the food we provide, while helping kids create healthy lifestyles for themselves and, in many cases, their families. In the summer, without school lunches, the additional meals are truly a lifeline, ensuring that our kids will not go hungry.”

(Pictured, from left, is Steve Raible, event emcee and voice of the Seattle Seahawks; Jonathan Tran, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue, Wash. member; Ray Conner, president and CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Linda Nageotte, CEO Food Lifeline)

FMI: www.boeing.com