Reba McEntire Feeds Hungry Children In Oklahoma

For Immediate Release

(Oklahoma City) – Dec. 28, 2011 – Singer and actress Reba McEntire is committed to fighting hunger in America.  After learning about the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food for Kids program in Kiowa, McEntire made a significant donation to the Regional Food Bank to help feeding hungry children in Oklahoma.

One in four children in Oklahoma will struggle with hunger today.  The Regional Food Bank serves more than 46,000 children every week through partner agencies and its Food for Kids childhood hunger programs: the Backpack Program, Kids Cafe, and School Pantries.

Through the Regional Food Bank’s Food for Kids Backpack Program, elementary school students receive healthy, kid-friendly meals over the weekends throughout the school year.  Kids Café, an afterschool and summer program, provides food, mentoring, tutoring, and a variety of other activities to approximately 900 at-risk children at 16 sites in central and western Oklahoma.  The School Pantry program provides pantries full of food at middle and high schools in central and Western Oklahoma.

Children from food insecure households are more likely than their food secure peers to experience higher rates of various forms of educational problems.  They are at least 50 percent more likely to miss days of school (1.6 times), nearly twice as likely to be suspended (1.95 times) and almost 50 percent more likely to have to repeat a grade (1.44 times).

“We are thankful for this generous donation from Reba McEntire,” said Rodney Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank.  “No child should ever have to go to bed with the pains of hunger in their stomach.”

The Regional Food Bank is dedicated to “Fighting Hunger…Feeding Hope.”  The organization plans on expanding the program until it is available in every elementary school in its 53 central and western Oklahoma county service area.

Established in 1980, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is the largest private hunger-relief organization in the state of Oklahoma. In Fiscal Year 2011, the Food Bank distributed 46.2 million pounds of food and products through a network of more than 825 charitable feeding programs and elementary schools in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. Each week, the organization provides enough food to feed more than 90,000 hungry Oklahomans.

Through January 31, Chesapeake Energy Corporation will match all tax-deductible donations made to the Regional Food Bank - up to $1 million! Donations received between now and January 31, 2012 will have twice the impact on the fight against hunger. Now, every dollar donated will provide 10 meals to those in need.

To learn more about the Regional Food Bank, or make a tax-deductible donation, visit regionalfoodbank.org or call 405.972.1111.

The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is a private, 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that acts as a link through which the food industry and community may donate food and other goods. The products are then distributed to nearly 825 schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. In fiscal year 2011, the Food Bank distributed 46.2 million pounds of food and product to help the charitable community effectively feed people in need. Since its inception in 1980, the Food Bank has distributed more than 424 million pounds of food to feed Oklahoma’s hungry.