Helping to Feed America's Hungry One Café at a Time

(Family Features) - "Did you know that more than 12 million children are food insecure," asks Laila Ali, celebrity athlete and champion of health and fitness. "That means that nearly one in five children in the United States doesn't have consistent access to enough food for a healthy, active life."

America's Second Harvest, the nation's food bank network and the largest charitable hunger-relief organization in the country, supports several children-focused programs and encourages the involvement and support of organizations and companies in this battle. Uncle Ben's has agreed to further that reach as a national sponsor of the Kids Café program and will fund more than 20 new cafes in cities across the country over the next four years. The first one will debut in September in Greenville, Miss., Uncle Ben's hometown.

"We're working with Laila Ali during the month of September to raise awareness about childhood hunger in America. We're encouraging people to visit UncleBens.com to sign 'Ben's Guest Book' or purchase any of our products to contribute to the $250,000 donation to the America's Second Harvest Kids Café program," states Vincent Howell, president, Mars Foods US.

Nationally launched in 1993, the Kids Café program is now the most expansive child-feeding program in the United States, providing nutritious free meals and snacks to low-income children through a variety of existing community locations such as Boys and Girls Clubs. Based on the support from Uncle Ben's, the Kids Cafe program will serve approximately 1,100 additional children and provide more than 150,000 servings of food each year.

After 10 years of existence, the Center on Hunger and Poverty evaluated the effectiveness of the Kids Café program and found that it not only fights child hunger, but also serves as a critical support system for families. Top improvements noted in children include earning better grades in school, having more energy and having better concentration.

Uncle Ben's, the number one rice brand in America, offers a wide range of nutritious rice dishes with flavors and textures that will help bring more to your meals, both for convenient side dishes and savory main courses.

SOURCE: Uncle Ben's Rice