San Francisco Food Bank Corporate Leaders Luncheon to Raise Funds and Honor Bay Area Businesses

Online, November 9, 2009 (Newswire.com) - San Francisco, CA (November 9, 2009) - For the fifth year in a row, over 100 Bay Area business leaders have given their time, energy and donations to the San Francisco Food Bank in an effort to bring food to those living at or near the poverty line in San Francisco. The Corporate Leaders Luncheon recognizes those in the business community who have taken a lead in supporting the San Francisco Food Bank in its mission to end hunger.

This year's luncheon will be held at The City Club of San Francisco and will be hosted by Sydnie Kohara, CBS 5 News Anchor. The luncheon has raised over $100,000 to help provide nutritious food at a critical time to people in need this holiday season. In San Francisco one in four children and one in five adults are at risk of hunger. With the demand for food assistance increasing locally, the San Francisco Food Bank has increased food distribution by 10%, enough for over seventy-eight thousand meals every day.

Both FedEx and the Boston Consulting Group will be honored with the Community Partner Award at the Corporate Leaders Luncheon. This year, FedEx continued its long-standing partnership with the San Francisco Food Bank to help families in need by delivering food collection barrels throughout the city and by making weekly deliveries of food to Hamilton Meadow Park Elementary school in Novato, where nearly half of the students are eligible for the free or reduced-cost lunch program. Hamilton is the furthest pantry location from the Food Bank warehouse. With FedEx making deliveries, resources are saved and the Food Bank is able to make more local deliveries while more than doubling the food distribution to Novato.

Last year, the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy spent countless hours helping the Food Bank develop a comprehensive, long-term strategic plan focused on ending hunger in San Francisco. This has enabled the Food Bank to be more efficient and effective.

"The San Francisco Food Bank will distribute 36.5 million pounds of food this year which would not have been possible without the support of Bay Area Businesses." said Paul Ash, Executive Director of the San Francisco Food Bank.