July 28, 2011

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Feed The Children, PepsiCo and Wal-Mart today have partnered to deliver five semi tractor-trailers full of food and essentials to help 2,000 families in Washington, D.C.

Longtime Feed The Children supporter PepsiCo this year joined forces with Wal-Mart to bring food and fresh fruit to families in need. Nearly 200 Washington, D.C. area employees from both companies, and several retired members of the NFL Players association, donated their time to help distribute boxes of food and personal care products to families.

The Susie Elizabeth Crowder Owens Food Pantry pre-identified families in need of assistance. The items received at this outreach will provide a family of four with enough food for a week. Each family received the following items at the event:

• 25-pound box of food
• 10-pound box of essentials
• box of Avon products
• a reusable bag filled with PepsiCo products, including brands from Frito-Lay, Quaker, Tropicana and Pepsi
• a reusable bag filled with fresh produce from Wal-Mart

The distribution is part of Feed The Children's Americans Feeding Americans Caravan, which has helped more than 260,000 families across the country since it began in 2009.

More than one in five children living in Washington, D.C. is at risk of hunger.  The number of impoverished children living in Washington D.C. (33,057) could fill the Verizon Center more than two times. The unemployment rate, child and adult poverty rates in Washington, D.C. are higher than the national averages. Ward 5, where this particular event was held, has a 9.2% unemployment rate, and 20% of its families live below the poverty line.

"The tremendous contribution by PepsiCo, Wal-Mart and their employees has allowed us to make this distribution one of the largest on our tour so far this year," said Tony Sellars, spokesperson for Feed The Children. "Our Americans Feeding Americans project is geared toward people who are still being affected by the economic downturn, including many who, until recently, considered themselves middle class. A lot of these people, for the first time in their lives, have not been able to provide for their families and this distribution will provide relief for them at a crucial time."

To see the impact of Feed The Children's Americans Feeding Americans Caravan in your area visit www.AmericansFeedingAmericans.org

Feed The Children

Founded in 1979, Feed The Children is consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the U.S., based on private, non-government support. Our mission is providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials. In FY 2010, Feed The Children distributed more than 133 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally. For more information, visit www.feedthechildren.org

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales each. Our main businesses -- Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi Cola -- also make hundreds of other enjoyable and wholesome foods and beverages that are respected household names throughout the world. With net revenues of approximately $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment, including by conserving energy and water usage, and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support, and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit http://www.pepsico.com/

SOURCE PepsiCo