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AARP Foundation Drive To End Hunger

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—AARP and AARP Foundation announced today that Drive to End Hunger donated nearly four million meals through local hunger relief organizations during its first year. The Foundation also raised more than $13.7 million from corporate and individual donors to help combat hunger among Americans 50 and older.

An estimated 8.8 million Americans 50 and older are at risk of hunger, including 4.9 million 50- to 59-year-olds, according to research released this year by AARP Foundation. AARP and AARP Foundation created Drive to End Hunger to raise awareness and funds to end hunger among older Americans. In February, AARP became NASCAR’s first cause-based primary sponsor with Drive to End Hunger featured on Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet. The effort raises the visibility of hunger while collecting cash and food donations in NASCAR race markets across the country.

“As Americans, we give a lot of thought to hunger around the holidays,” said AARP Foundation President Jo Ann Jenkins. “But nearly nine million older Americans face hunger every day. We’re so proud of what NASCAR fans, AARP members and corporate donors have done to make a difference in the lives of those struggling with hunger.”

Major companies joining with Drive to End Hunger this year included Chase Card Services and UnitedHealthcare—each with multimillion-dollar commitments. International Speedway Corporation, through its concessions vendor, Americrown, donated 40,000 pounds of extra food after Sprint Cup races at their facilities.

“This has been a tremendous year for our team, both on and off the track,” Gordon said. “I know first-hand how charitable the NASCAR community can be, and Drive to End Hunger has gone the extra mile. The awareness they have created and the resources they’ve raised are making a real difference for a problem that has lived in the shadows for too long.”

During each of Drive to End Hunger’s race weekends, AARP Foundation made major cash donations to local hunger relief organizations. This weekend, the Foundation donated $10,000 to Feeding South Florida. On average, food banks can deliver seven meals for each dollar donated. In addition to local food and cash donations, the Foundation will award hunger innovation grants—ranging between $50,000 and $300,000—to local, state, and national organizations, to develop or scale projects focused on long-term, sustainable solutions to older adult hunger.

For more information about Drive to End Hunger, please visit www.drivetoendhunger.org.

AARP Foundation is AARP’s affiliated charity. The Foundation is dedicated to serving vulnerable people 50+ by creating solutions that help them secure the essentials and achieve their best life. AARP Foundation focuses on: hunger, housing, income and isolation as our key mission areas. The Foundation envisions: ‘a country free of poverty where no older person feels vulnerable.’ Foundation programs are funded by grants, tax-deductible contributions and AARP. For more information about AARP Foundation, please log on to www.aarpfoundation.org.

-AARP, Press Release