News Release


More Than 100 Kraft Foods Volunteers Team up with Local Charities to Make a Delicious Difference in Bentonville and Rogers

First Global “Make a Delicious Difference Week” Unites 10,000+ Employees to Fight Hunger, Promote Healthy Lifestyles and Build Stronger Communities

Bentonville, AR (October 6, 2009) – Eighteen volunteer projects. Seven days. 150 Kraft Foods’ employee volunteers. $5,000. And 500 handmade blankets. What does that add up to? Thousands of people in Bentonville and Rogers benefiting from Kraft Foods’ first-ever global “Make a Delicious Difference Week.”

With more than 10,000 employees in 33 countries participating around the world, this special week of service (Oct. 5-10) will benefit roughly 500,000 people in need. The effort will mobilize six times the number of volunteers than in previous efforts, and build on the company’s commitment to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles.

This week in Bentonville and Rogers, the company is teaming up with the American Diabetes Association, Boys & Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter and NWA Food Bank, among others, to feed and clothe the needy, build homes for families and raise awareness of diabetes through numerous service events in the community.

“We may be best known for cooking up tasty products like Kraft American Singles and Velveeta, but this week is all about making a delicious difference in our communities,” explained Tricia Clark, Kraft Foods Bentonville plant manager. “The volunteer spirit of our employees combined with the expertise of so many great charity organizations is a winning recipe to fight hunger, provide needed shelter and promote healthy living. Knowing our efforts here in Bentonville and Rogers are an important ingredient in our first global week of service makes this experience even more powerful.”

Local projects include:

  • Preparing food and delivering it to Habitat for Humanity
  • Offering cooking classes at the North West Arkansas Children’s Shelter
  • Volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club “Healthy Living Olympics”
  • Packing and distributing 500 food boxes for the North West Arkansas Food Bank
  • Preparing 500 blankets for the needy (approximate retail value: $7,500
  • Conducting a clothing drive for kids in need

To extend the spirit of giving back, the company also will donate $5,000 to the American Diabetes Association and the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter. And, to supplement its employees’ efforts, the Kraft Foods Foundation will match U.S. employee cash contributions to nonprofits on a two-to-one basis throughout the week.

Serving Up the Spirit of Service When Needed Most
Kraft Foods’ Customer Category Manager Mike Duley, along with Clark and other experienced volunteers, helped lead the effort. Duley explains, “Getting out into the community to serve gives us insight into how real hunger, diabetes and homelessness are. The shocking reality is that thousands of people are affected by these devastating situations in Bentonville and surrounding areas.”

Spreading the Giving Spirit
Starting Oct. 13, people can visit www.kraftfoodscompany.com to learn how to spread the volunteer spirit through a special online video. Each time this video is viewed, Kraft Foods will donate money to Feeding America to help provide five meals to those at risk of hunger -- up to 100,000 meals through the end of October.

Kraft Foods Support of Hunger and Healthy Lifestyles
As the second largest food company in the world, Kraft Foods is taking a stand when it comes to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles. Since 1997, the company has provided more than 1 billion servings of fresh food. Around the world, the company contributes approximately $100 million annually in food and money to community organizations. The company committed $180 million in the next three years to community involvement activities around the globe. The expansion of its global employee volunteer efforts though the first global “Make a Delicious Difference Week” is another example of Kraft Foods’ stepped up efforts. In Washington D.C., the company has supported the fight against hunger through partnerships with the Congressional Hunger Center, Food & Friends, Food Research Action Council, Friends of the World Food Program and So Others Might Eat.

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Contacts:

Ana Paula Cruz
847.646.4538
news@kraft.com

Daniel Roberti
212.981.5133
Daniel_roberti@dkcnews.com


ABOUT KRAFT FOODS INC.
Kraft Foods (www.kraftfoodscompany.com) makes today delicious in 150 countries around the globe. Our 100,000 employees work tirelessly to make delicious foods consumers can feel good about. From American brand icons like Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings, Maxwell House coffees and Oscar Mayer meats, to global powerhouse brands like Oreo and LU biscuits, Philadelphia cream cheeses, Jacobs and Carte Noire coffees, Tang powdered beverages and Milka, Cote d'Or, Lacta and Toblerone chocolates, our brands deliver millions of smiles every day. Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) is the world's second largest food company with annual revenues of $42 billion. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index.