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Woodforest Charitable Foundation donates $200 to Food Bank of the Southern Tier

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ELMIRA, NY – Woodforest Charitable Foundation donates $200 to Food Bank of the Southern Tier.  The funds will support the Food Bank’s Kids Café and BackPack Programs.

Kids Café is one of the nation's largest meal service programs providing free meals and nutrition education to hungry children in a safe environment.  It is a program of America's Second Harvest, the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the U.S. and is operated by the Food Bank of Southern Tier.  The Food Bank partners with agencies to help ensure that children are provided with a free meal after school.

Many children who receive free and reduced priced school meals are left without the nutrition they need on weekends.  By providing children who are at risk of hunger with a bag of nutritious food each Friday throughout the school year, the BackPack Program attempts to reduce this gap and help children return to school on Monday ready to learn.  During the 2009-2010 school year the program served 19 school districts across the Southern Tier, reaching more than 1,220 children each week.

“Research has shown that hunger has long-term consequences on children’s ability to learn and thrive.  The Food Bank’s childhood hunger programs help address that problem by providing children at risk of hunger with nutritious, child-friendly food,” said Natasha Thompson, President & CEO of Food Bank of the Southern Tier.  “The Foundation’s support means a great deal to us and especially to the children we serve.”

Founded in 1981, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier was initiated through the steadfast efforts of Sister Rosaria Hughes.  The Food Bank’s network of over 180 hunger-relief agencies includes food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, residential programs, day care programs, senior feeding programs, and other not-for-profit organizations located throughout a six county service area.

For more information about Food Bank of the Southern Tier’s child hunger-relief programs, please call (607) 796-6061 or visit www.foodbankst.org.

The Woodforest Charitable Foundation was created by Woodforest National Bank in 2005 as a direct result of its desire to support and invest in the communities in which it serves.  The Foundation is creating a legacy of commitment to those in need, enriching lives and communities through dedicated leadership and faithful administration by providing funding to qualifying 501(c)(3) charities.  For additional information regarding The Woodforest Charitable Foundation, call (832) 375-CARE (2273) or visit the Foundation’s website at www.woodforestcharitablefoundation.org.

Celebrating 30 years of service and ranked among the top earning banks in the United States, the Woodforest family of banks currently has assets of approximately $3.2 billion and services more than 850,000 customers with branches in excess of 750 throughout seventeen states:  Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.  For information about Woodforest National Bank, please call 832-375-2000 or visit the bank’s website at www.woodforest.com.