PMA Fresh Summit donations helps local families

According to Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2014 report, 1 in 7.5 people, or an estimated 755,400 people, in metro Atlanta and north Georgia turn to food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families each year. This includes more than 164,000 children and more than 64,000 seniors. Some of those families will benefit from a generous donation of 341,061 pounds of produce, made possible by exhibitors of the PMA Fresh Summit Convention and Expo held this past weekend in Atlanta.

The fresh produce was collected from the Georgia World Congress Center expo hall by approximately 250 volunteers from the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB). Founded in 1979, ACFB procures more than 60 million pounds of food and groceries each year and distributes it to more than 600 nonprofit partner agencies serving families and individuals in 29 metro Atlanta and north Georgia counties. Feeding America’s report shows that 80,600 people are served each week by programs supported through ACFB, and that those clients turn to ACFB partner programs and pantries for help more than 6.1 million times over the course of the year.

Over the past decade, PMA exhibitors have donated more than 3.2 million pounds of fresh produce to communities in need in the United States.

“Fresh produce is the number one category of food we provide for our hungry neighbors," said Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. "The PMA Fresh Summit Expo brings the best of the best in fresh fruits and vegetables. It's incredible that we'll be able to make thousands of pounds of this product available for those in need.”

For more information:
Meg Miller
PMA
Tel: +1 (302) 738-7100, ext. 3031
Email: [email protected]
www.pma.com