UnitedHealth Group Inc. : Randy Starks and UnitedHealthcare Fight Hunger in South Florida

Randy Starks and UnitedHealthcare Fight Hunger in South Florida

Defensive tackle Randy Starks and some of his teammates will join volunteers from UnitedHealthcare today at Olinda Park to staff a Feeding South Florida Mobile Food Pantry. The project is the culmination of the Sack Hunger campaign, where UnitedHealthcare donated over 49,000 meals to Feeding South Florida for the 41 sacks by Starks and the rest of the defense.

"I am excited to work with UnitedHealthcare as part of the Sack Hunger campaign," said Starks. "My teammates and I have done work in the past with Feeding South Florida and understand the importance of the services it provides throughout South Florida."

The Mobile Food Pantry is one of Feeding South Florida's most innovative and effective ways to bring fresh produce into areas that have been deemed 'food deserts.' A food desert is an area in which a majority of the residents have limited access to large retail stores with fresh food and grocery products. Through Feeding South Florida's Mobile Food Pantry, individuals and families are able to access fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and breads that are so vital to maintaining a proper diet.

The mobile food pantry at Olinda Park is expected to feed nearly 2,000 people.

"As demand for our services continues to increase, Feeding South Florida is appreciative of UnitedHealthcare's support," said Paco Velez, president & CEO, Feeding South Florida. "We have seen an increase in the number of working families, children and older adults in need of food assistance, so this donation enables us to provide food items and fresh produce to the nearly 950,000 South Floridians struggling to put food on the table."

"UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to partner with Feeding South Florida to make a difference in the lives of Floridians and help ensure they have access to fresh, nutritious food," said Nicholas Zaffiris, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of South Florida.

This project is the latest in UnitedHealthcare's "Do Good. Live Well." employee volunteer initiative, whose mission is to prevent hunger and obesity, inspire service and encourage volunteerism. For more information about the benefits of volunteering and to find local opportunities to get involved, visit www.DoGoodLiveWell.org. Follow @DoGoodLiveWell on Twitter or "like" Do Good. Live Well. on Facebook.

About Feeding South Florida
Feeding South Florida's mission is to end hunger in South Florida by providing immediate access to nutritious food, leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts, and transforming lives through innovative programming and education. Through a local network of approximately 350 nonprofit partner agencies, Feeding South Florida strives to serve the almost 1 million individuals in need, including 296,600 children, older adults and the working poor, in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. As a member of Feeding America, the nation's leading hunger relief charity with 202 food banks in the network, Feeding South Florida is the sole Feeding America food bank in South Florida, and the largest in the state, distributing nearly 35 million pounds of food annually. For more information on how you can get involved with Feeding South Florida, visit www.feedingsouthflorida.org, call 954.518.1818 or follow Feeding South Florida on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingSFL and Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingSFL. 

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with 780,000 physicians and other health care professionals and 5,900 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 40 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.