Kraft Heinz helps to fight hunger in New Zealand

Kraft Heinz staff from around the country will volunteer their time to help fight hunger in New Zealand.

On Friday 22nd June at Parnell Community Centre – Jubilee Building, Auckland 100 volunteers will together pack 50,000 micronutrient meals for The Salvation Army in partnership with Rise Against Hunger to distribute to eight foodbanks across the country.   This is the first time Auckland Head Office is hosting the event.

The meals will be added to food parcels, distributed via Salvation Army foodbanks helping those in need. Each meal includes micronutrient powders containing 18 essential vitamins and minerals for healthy growth and development. Each serving of micronutrients provides an entire day’s worth of nutrition, and has been proven effective in preventing and treating iron-deficiency anaemia and other vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

More than 30,000 families are expected to need food and other relief from The Salvation Army this winter.  Salvation Army head of welfare services Major Pam Waugh says that food support over this period can help families facing desperate choices including choosing between heating and eating.

"For the families we see who are struggling with the additional costs of heating and health care, a food parcel gives them breathing space - helping them pay for those other essentials to stay warm and healthy in the cold winter months."

Globally Kraft Heinz has a relationship with Rise Against Hunger which is an international hunger relief organisation that distributes food with the aim to end hunger globally by 2030. At various Kraft Heinz centres around the world they hold sessions where volunteers pack micro-nutrient bags which are then delivered to those in need. Rise Against Hunger and Kraft Heinz’s partnership has helped improve the nutrition of more than five million people in over 74 countries, including New Zealand.

The packaging event is another great extension of the long-standing relationship between Wattie’s and The Salvation Army over the past 25 years which has involved high profile public-facing can fundraising campaigns supported with matched donations from Wattie’s run annually to restock foodbank shelves at critical times of the year when demand for food support can outstrip supply.