Fisher Announces Statewide Campaign and $40,000 Donation to Feeding Texas

SELMA, Texas, Oct. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Fisher® Nuts announced a statewide campaign to bring Texas communities together to help feed hungry families this holiday season. In its third year partnering with Feeding Texas (formerly the Texas Food Bank Network) for the Fisher Shares & Cares campaign, Fisher is donating $40,000 that will be used to help feed 400,000 Texans throughout the season.

Texans across the state can help by participating in one of five Fisher Shares & Cares events on November 18, 2014, at the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas, Houston Food Bank, San Antonio Food Bank, Food Bank of West Central Texas in Abilene and the High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo. Fisher is encouraging students and community members to join together for one night to make a positive impact in their communities.  Those interested in signing up to volunteer on Nov. 18 can contact the nearest participating local Feeding Texas food bank. Contact information for your food bank can be found at http://www.feedingtexas.org/help/.  In San Antonio, Fisher employees from their Selma plant will join the community to help package meals. Fisher will also provide pizza and t-shirts to those attending the events.

"We're very proud to be able to join together with other Texans for the third year of Fisher Shares & Cares," said Neeraj Sharma, Selma, Texas plant operations manager for John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc., the manufacturer and distributor of Fisher Nuts products. "With the holidays right around the corner, this is a great opportunity for us to make an impact in our communities by providing meals for those in need."

Feeding Texas member food banks distributed enough food for 270 million meals in 2013 nourishing over three million Texans through a statewide network of 3,000 soup kitchens, food pantries and local agencies. The organization also helps food banks build the capacity to end hunger by managing statewide food sourcing and purchasing programs, offering expert technical assistance and training, and spreading food bank innovations and best practices statewide.

"With 1.9 million Texas kids living in food insecure homes and one in six Texas families facing difficult choices between affording food or other needs, we need all the help we can get to really make an impact," said Celia Cole, chief executive officer at Feeding Texas. "We are grateful to have Fisher's support for a third year to help provide thousands of meals to deserving families this holiday season."

To kick-off the campaign, Fisher is encouraging students and community members to bring non-perishable food items to upcoming high school football games at Johnson High School vs. Reagan High School in San Antonio on Oct. 4; Duncanville High School in Dallas on Oct. 10; and Clear Lake High School in Houston on Oct. 16. The canned food donations, in addition to the $40,000 donation from Fisher, will be used to help feed Texas families during the holidays.

Texans can help get the word out about this campaign and show how they're giving back to the community this holiday season by sharing photos with the hashtag #Nuts4Texas. For more information on the November 18 events, visit http://www.feedingtexas.org/ or contact Sarah Sykes at ssykes@feedingtexas.org. 

About John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. 
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc., JBSS, founded in 1922, is a leading processor, marketer and distributor of baking nuts, snack nuts and nut-based products that are sold in multiple distribution channels. Our products can be found under the Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest and Sunshine Country brand names and a variety of private brands.

About Feeding Texas
Feeding Texas, formerly known as the Texas Food Bank Network (TFBN) is a statewide, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to lead a unified effort for a hunger-free Texas. We move millions of hungry Texans toward food security through a statewide network of food banks; strengthen the collective response to hunger through collaboration and scaling success; and lead the public conversation needed to solve hunger in Texas.

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SOURCE Fisher