$215,000 AWARDED AS FOOD BANKS ACROSS THE NATION FACE UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND
September 28, 2020
IRVINE, CA – September 28, 2020 – The Board of Trustees of the Mazda Foundation (USA) Inc., has awarded $215,000 in grants to nine food banks operating in six major metropolitan areas across the United States. The grants will enable the awardees to serve an estimated 730,000 meals in the next 12 months.
These most recent grants are in addition to donations made earlier in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, the Mazda Foundation has donated $429,000 to purchase shelf-stable food items for those most vulnerable in our communities.
“The pandemic has created an enormous need in communities across the country,” said Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North American Operations and chairman of the Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc. “Addressing a fundamental need like food security is a clear expression of the Mazda Foundation’s guiding principle that what matters most is one another.”
Food banks across the country have been stretched thin by the impact of the pandemic, with demand up 60% since March. Feeding America estimates that 1 in 6 Americans are at risk of facing hunger this year.
The Mazda Foundation awarded grants to the following organizations: Bracken’s Kitchen (Garden Grove, CA); Second Harvest Food Bank (Irvine, CA); Houston Food Bank (Houston, TX); North Texas Food Bank (Plano, TX); Central Texas Food Bank (Austin, TX); Northern Illinois Food Bank (Geneva, IL); Greater Chicago Food Depository (Chicago, IL); Food Bank of North Alabama (Huntsville, AL); and Flemington Area Food Pantry (Flemington, N.J.).
About Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc.
As the corporate foundation of Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), the Mazda Foundation has donated more than $13 million to children’s organizations, educational scholarships, food banks, environmental programs, and disaster relief efforts since 1992. To learn more about the Mazda Foundation, please visit www.mazdafoundation.org.