AUSTIN, Minn., Sept. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods,
a global branded food company, is celebrating the efforts of
remarkable youth throughout the
United States who are working to create a better world by
designing innovative ways for a more transparent, secure and
sustainable food system. To recognize and spotlight these 10 young
individuals for their contributions, Hormel Foods is launching its
inaugural "10 Under 20 Food Heroes Awards" program during
its first-ever Spirit Week, a companywide virtual celebration set
for Sept. 14-18.
The Food Heroes Awards ceremony will be taking place during
Spirit Week in lieu of the previously scheduled ceremony set for
the company's second annual Small Change Big Impact Food Summit at
Harvard University. The change was due
to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. The Small
Change Big Impact Food Summit, which brings together leaders and
experts from across the entire industry, fosters forward-thinking
ideas to create a better food system. It is scheduled to return
next year.
Suggesting ways to feed those in need and efforts to save our
planet, this incredible group of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes has
demonstrated that anyone can make a difference in the world,
regardless of age, background or resources. For their work, Hormel
Foods will present award winners with grants to use on their
journey as the next generation's great change-makers.
"We are motivated by the work of these ten incredible food
heroes and their efforts to fight food insecurity, protect our
environment and help those in need," said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and
chief executive officer at Hormel Foods. "Ranging from 6 to 20,
these young visionaries have created cutting-edge ideas, grassroots
efforts and high-impact initiatives that are making a difference in
their communities and the greater world. We are humbled and honored
to celebrate them as they demonstrate that the smallest of efforts
can often lead to a significant impact."
"The work of these incredible young people is inspiring, and we
are so moved by their original ideas – both grassroots and
cutting edge – to aid the fight against hunger and food insecurity
and to lift up their communities and help those in need," Snee
continued. "Their ideas and work already suggest the positive
impact they will have on the world for generations to come. They
also remind us how we can all benefit from young thinkers,
philanthropists and foodies who are showing everyone that change
can and is happening on a local, state, national and even
international level."
In addition to the 10 Under 20 Food Heroes, Hormel Foods will be
honoring 19-year-old Joshua
Williams, who is a true change-maker. Now a junior at
NYU's Stern School of Business, when he
was just shy of 5 years old, he started Joshua's Heart Foundation
in Miami Beach, Florida. His
mission has long been to put an end to poverty and food insecurity.
Since 2005, Williams' foundation has raised almost $2 million in financial support, distributed more
than 3 million pounds of food, served more than 600,000
individuals, donated more than 200,000 toys, books and clothes, and
recruited more than 60,000 young people to help him do all of this
incredible work. Team members at Hormel Foods were so energized by
Williams, they decided to make him the first ambassador for the 10
Under 20 Food Impact Awards. He is a tremendous force for good in
the world and continues to inspire up-and-coming change-makers who
are just getting started in their efforts to improve the lives of
others in their communities.
The inaugural class of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes honorees, in no
specific order, are:
Elise Simokat, Hurricane, West Virginia - Age
13 – Founder, Box to Belly Challenge
- Elise Simokat delivered holiday
meals to students who are part of the Backpack Buddy program.
Backpack Buddy provides nonperishable food and meals for students
who may otherwise not have a full meal during the weekend.
Simokat's goal was to expand the food offerings to make sure no
student went hungry and would have warm food options during long
holiday breaks.
- Simokat visited every Putnam
County school and a few schools in Kanawha, totaling around 24 schools. She was
able to provide and deliver approximately 2,100 meals to students
by raising money for meals via social media platforms like
Facebook. She also received a donation of 1,000 HORMEL® COMPLEATS®
meals from Hormel Foods Corp. The company has since donated more
than 2,000 additional meals to her and held a meal-packing event at
a recent leadership meeting.
Grace Callwood, Hartford
County, Maryland - Age 16 - We
Cancerve
- Getting a diagnosis of cancer is perhaps one of the hardest
things for anyone to hear. Hearing those words as a 7-year-old is
unfathomable, but this was the reality for Grace Callwood when she was diagnosed with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
- In 2012, she started the We Cancerve Movement, a nonprofit that
brings happiness and fun to children in hospitals, foster care and
homeless shelters in and around Aberdeen,
Maryland. At the age of 10, she even created a summer day
camp for homeless children.
- Today, she is a healthy and inspiring young leader who decided
to create an organization focused on helping vulnerable children –
those experiencing homelessness or illness, and those in foster
care. Now 16, she runs the organization with an all-youth board of
advisors to bring food, toys and literacy to thousands of
vulnerable young people.
Liam Hannon, Cambridge, Massachusetts – Age 13 - Lunches of
Love
- Liam Hannon lives down the
street from Harvard University, which
is fitting, given the fact that his compassion for others is
something that can serve as a lesson to all.
- He decided to skip summer camp to make a difference by creating
lunches to give out to the homeless in Cambridge.
- To date, he has given away more than 10,000 meals and has flown
around the country spreading good will.
Mikaila Ulmer, Austin, Texas - Age 15 – Founder, Me & the
Bees
- After learning about how much bees do for the environment and
how they're dying out, 4-year-old Mikaila
Ulmer decided to take action by joining a local
children's-business competition.
- Her product is a family lemonade recipe sweetened with locally
produced honey, with a portion of the sales going to organizations
fighting to save the honeybee population.
- Thanks to a deal on "Shark Tank," over the past decade, Mikaila
has sold more than 1 million bottles of Me & the Bees Lemonade
across 1,000 stores in the U.S., including Whole Foods and
Macy's.
Adam Fellows, Sherrill, New York – Age 19 - Food Pantry
Sherrill
- For his high school senior project, Adam Fellows was focused on collecting food for
his local food pantry, but there was a slight problem. The food
pantry was closed.
- To combat this issue, Fellows decided to build a food pantry in
Sherrill, New York, after the
original one closed down and the community was not being
served.
Kiki Hardee, Vista, California – Age 6 – Kiki's Kindness
Project: School Lunch Debt
- At the wise old age of 5, Kiki
Hardee heard that some of her classmates were unable to pay
for lunch, which didn't sit well with this young leader!
- Her compassion and kindness for her classmates created what is
now called Kiki's Kindness Project.
- Hardee created a cocoa-and-cookies stand to raise money to pay
off school lunch debt and also went beyond her own school and
helped pay off the district's debt of $7,000.
Jahkil Jackson, Chicago,
Illinois – Age 13 - Project I Am
- Project I Am was created by 8-year-old Jahkil Jackson out of
his heartfelt desire to help those in need. One day, he decided to
help his aunt distribute food to homeless people in Chicago. After this experience, Jackson knew
he wanted to do more to make a difference.
- It quickly became his mission to build awareness of
homelessness and to help members of this vulnerable population by
offering them what he calls "Blessing Bags" – a giveaway filled
with wipes, socks, deodorant, hand sanitizer, granola bars,
toothbrushes, toothpaste, bottled water and more.
Bradley Ferguson - Age 19
- Founder, Post Crashers
- Nineteen-year-old Bradley
Ferguson's dedication to helping veterans was first
evidenced by his renovation of American Legion Post 295, a project
made possible by funding from grants that he penned.
- The following year, he witnessed the tragic death of a United
State military veteran who set himself on fire out of despair.
Ferguson became determined to help veterans suffering with mental
illness and homelessness by hosting advocacy dinners. He formed
Post Crashers, created a victory garden to serve as a source of
food and cooked full-course meals to go along with the
approximately 6,000 pounds of vegetables grown in the garden.
- To date, Ferguson and his team have provided about 2,000
full-course meals for previously homeless veterans living in
transitional housing. In addition, they have made approximately
13,000 lunches for homeless clients of the Atlantic City Rescue
Mission.
- His second organization, Mustangs Against Hunger, established
in 2017, is a high school food pantry that distributes thousands of
pounds of nonperishable food to hundreds of families in need.
Lucas Hobbs, Age 17 -
Eagan, Minnesota –
ChefLucasFood
- Lucas Hobbs faced his cancer
diagnosis with courage and strength, and upon completion of his
treatment, the Make-A-Wish Foundation offered him the opportunity
to have his wish granted. Many kids use their wishes to go to
Disney or to attend a sporting event, but not Hobbs. His wish was
to partner with Minnesota food
trucks so that he could give back to his community and other kids
battling cancer.
- ChefLucasFood is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in
Minnesota by the Hobbs family during the fall of 2015 after Lucas
Hobbs exercised his wish to use food trucks to communicate his
appreciation to the community that supported him during his battle
with cancer.
- Today, through food industry partnerships, the organization
hosts a broad range of food-truck charitable events. They benefit
service organizations and serve the needs of families battling
pediatric cancer by providing meals at no cost.
King Middle School (Portland, Maine)
- King Middle School students are
known to excel at many things, but perhaps the daily commitment of
the collective student body to eliminate food waste is among the
greatest of their achievements.
- King Middle School students
decided to take on food waste at their school and created a
five-part waste separation system, including shared tables, compost
guardians and plastic-bag reduction.
ABOUT HORMEL FOODS — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food
company with over $9 billion in
annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands
include SKIPPY®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural
Choice®, Applegate®, Justin's®,
Wholly®, Hormel® Black
Label®, Columbus® and more than 30
other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500
Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on
the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list
by Forbes magazine for three straight years, is one
of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has
appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "The 100 Best
Corporate Citizens" list for the 12th year in a
row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its
corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company
lives by its purpose statement — Inspired People. Inspired
Food.™ — to bring some of the world's most trusted and
iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information,
visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.
Contact:
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Hormel Foods Media
Relations, media@hormel.com
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Ashley Fallick, Smith
& Company for Hormel Foods
afallick@smithandcompany.com
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