According to the World Food Programme, 805 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life, and poor nutrition causes nearly half (45 percent) of deaths in children under five years old – that's 3.1 million children each year. In the fall of 2014, global consulting firm Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) launched its year-long i on Hunger initiative as part of the fight to help end world hunger. Today, the company announced it has reached its goal of providing one million meals ‑ more than four months ahead of schedule ‑ and will continue its global meal-packing efforts.
On Monday, June 15th, Protiviti conducted a meal-packing event in Orlando to pack 100,000 meals with its incoming class of 2015 summer interns, who are in Orlando for a week of orientation and training. Joining the nearly 200 interns were Protiviti executives and local employees who volunteered for the event benefitting non-profit Stop Hunger Now. Together, the 270 Protiviti volunteers packed 100,110 nutritious dehydrated meals raising the firm's i on Hunger grand total to 1,068,335 meals provided globally for people in need.
Leading up to the i on Hunger campaign milestone, Protiviti packed, and in some cases delivered, meals through 63 events in 16 countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, India, Japan, Singapore, The Netherlands and the United States. Thousands of employees took part, with Protiviti clients also joining the effort.
"We could not have reached this milestone with such expediency without the dedication of our employees around the globe. They have an inspiring passion to help feed the world's hungry," said Joseph Tarantino, president and CEO, Protiviti. "While reaching the one million meals goal is an incredible feat, we also recognize that hunger does not stop, and neither will we. Protiviti plans to keep providing meals to those in need and continuing to make a positive impact on the world's most vulnerable people."
In the coming months, Protiviti will conduct another 25 i on Hunger events in the United States, including in cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Global meal-packing locations include Canada, England, Germany, India, Italy and South Africa.
Along the journey to one million meals, Protiviti employees have been joined by volunteers from more than 100 of the firm's client companies whose participation helped make the i on Hunger campaign a success. "We're very appreciative that many of our clients have rolled up their sleeves and joined us in packing meals for the hungry," added Tarantino.
During the i on Hunger campaign, Protiviti has collaborated with 30 non-profit organizations that have delivered meals to the hungry, including: City Harvest, Feed My Starving Children, Feeding Children Everywhere, Food Lifeline, Harvester's Foodbank, Philabundance, Ronald McDonald House, Stop Hunger Now and others.
"It's important for everyone to know that hunger is solvable and is the common thread among the world's most challenging issues. When hunger is targeted, you give leverage and hope to every other cause including poverty, disease, education and the welfare of women and children," said Rod Brooks, president and CEO of Stop Hunger Now.
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