The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation has now donated $20 million to food banks around the world as part of one of the largest donations aimed at fighting hunger.
The program, known as Fill Your Tank, is a company-wide initiative launched in October 2016 to celebrate Enterprise’s 60th anniversary by providing a total of $60 million, to address food insecurity. The Foundation is distributing $10 million per year over a six year period. The Fill Your Tank program is partnering with hunger relief organizations including Feeding America, Food Banks Canada and the Global FoodBanking Network.
“The Fill Your Tank initiative has made an impact on community food banks and pantries around the world, and we are thrilled to continue to work with our hunger relief partners in 2018. Our employees have long supported food banks and pantries in the cities and neighborhoods we serve. We’re continuously inspired by their good work,” said Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation Senior Vice President and Executive Director Carolyn Kindle Betz.
“We launched the Fill Your Tank initiative at the end of 2016 to shed light on an important issue and strengthen the communities where our employees live and work. Food insecurity is a critical issue in thousands of towns and neighborhoods around the world, and often, it’s an issue that doesn’t get the attention it deserves,” added Kindle Betz.
In the program’s first two years, $20 million was distributed as follows:
- $5 million to Feeding America®, the largest U.S. domestic hunger-relief and food rescue charity. These funds helped to fight hunger among seniors and children.
- $3 million to Food Banks Canada to support operations and infrastructure in food banks across Canada.
- $2 million to The Global FoodBanking Network to expand the work of food banks around the world, especially food banks in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany and Spain on behalf of company-owned operations in these countries.
- $10 million to local food banks and pantries in communities served by Enterprise.
Program Highlights
Funding by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation was used to create programs that address the unique challenges each community faces when it comes to food insecurity. In the U.S., donations were made to food banks selected by local Enterprise operations as well as Feeding America.
Examples of how funds were used include:
- Development of a six-year implementation plan to support Feeding America’s senior hunger strategy.
- $100,000 was donated to a community food bank in Alabama to support mobile food pantries, serving 8,600 meals to 480 seniors every month.
- $100,000 was used to develop a senior nutrition program in Illinois, serving 192,000 meals to seniors.
- Development of an IT system to support food sharing and expand the World Food Programme’s services to reach more people.
- €80,000 was used to open a new logistics center in Germany, serving 180,000 people since the location opened its doors.
- £500,000 was used to expand services and food distribution in the UK, reaching more than 480,000 people.
- Development of a national study to learn how to improve the effectiveness of Food Banks Canada’s national food sharing system.
- Funds were used to increase food acquisition and sharing for ten provincial associations in Canada, serving 550 local food banks.
Although there is enough food produced to feed the population, one in nine people still go to bed on an empty stomach, according to the World Food Programme. In the U.S. alone, 41 million people face hunger, including nearly 13 million children and more than five million seniors, according to Feeding America.
“The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation’s annual donation is critical for the 46 million people we serve. This gift continues to help us fight hunger where it exists today and build programs to serve populations that may become food-insecure in the future,” said Matt Knott, President of Feeding America.