CHICAGO, IL, U.S.A. – November 2, 2016 – Today The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) announced that the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation – through its Fill Your Tank program – has committed $6 million over six years to the organization to address food insecurity in Europe. The donation will help food banks in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany and Spain build capacity to reach more people facing hunger.
“One in four people around the world suffer from malnutrition, and millions of these people can be reached through food banking,” said Lisa Moon, President and CEO of GFN. “GFN’s partnership with Enterprise will help expand food banks’ capacity to reach more people in need, while reducing food waste. Enterprise’s support will help break barriers that keep people from achieving their full potential and leading healthy, productive lives.”
The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation has committed $1 million annually for the next six years to GFN’s capacity building program, which provides food banks with the resources needed to scale operations in order to reach more people and rescue more food from waste. For this investment, GFN and its partner, the Federation of European Food Banks (FEBA), will use the donation to fund capacity-building at leading food banks in those European countries where Enterprise has wholly owned operations. These are FareShare in the UK, Bundesverband Deutsche Tafel e.V. in Germany, Fédération Française des Banques Alimentaires in France, Federación Española de Bancos de Alimentos in Spain, and Crosscare Food Bank in Ireland.
“Enterprise Rent-A-Car is woven into the fabric of the thousands of towns and neighborhoods where we do business, and food insecurity is an issue in many of those communities. Often hunger is invisible to us. We simply don’t see the signs that someone might be food-insecure or think about the ripple effects of hunger,” said Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation Vice President and Executive Director Carolyn Kindle Betz.
“Our employees have long supported food banks in the cities and neighborhoods we serve. The Fill Your Tank program is a natural extension of the good work our employees are already doing. It’s also particularly poignant as addressing hunger was one of the last wishes of my grandfather and our founder, Jack Taylor, who passed away earlier this year,” added Kindle Betz.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation’s Fill Your Tank program has been designed to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary in 2017 by providing $60 million over 6 years to address food insecurity around the globe. In addition to the $6 million committed to GFN and its partners, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation has pledged support to Feeding America, Food Banks Canada, and to local food banks and pantries in communities served by Enterprise.
“FEBA’s members in France, Spain, UK, and Ireland, as well as its partner in Germany, welcome the long-term partnership with Enterprise, made possible through GFN. It will greatly help to build capacity in these locations and bring more vulnerable people out of food poverty,” said Patrick Alix, Secretary General of FEBA.
GFN connects and strengthens food banks in 32 countries and maintains a strong partnership with the Federation of European Food Banks. Last year GFN’s capacity building program alone provided safe and nutritious food to more than 900,000 people.
About The Global FoodBanking Network
The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) is an international nonprofit organization that nourishes the world’s hungry through launching and strengthening food banks in 32 countries. Last year GFN member food banks rescued nearly 930 million pounds of food and redirected it to feed more than 6.8 million people through 27,000 social service organizations. For more information please visit www.foodbanking.org.
