Ertharin Cousin Named U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture

Ertharin Cousin Named U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Agencies for Food and
Agriculture

CHICAGO, June 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Friday, June 19, President
Barack Obama named Ertharin Cousin to be the next U.S. ambassador to the
Rome-based U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture. A long-standing advocate
for hunger-relief programs, Ambassador Cousin served Feeding America as a
Board Member (2002-2004) and Executive Vice President / Chief Operating
Officer (2004-2006).

"Ambassador Ertharin Cousin has been and will continue to be a leading
advocate for hungry people in the United States and around the world," said
Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America. "As a leader within
Feeding America, Ambassador Cousin vastly accelerated visibility of domestic
hunger with heartfelt passion and tireless determination."

Prior to her work with Feeding America, Ambassador Cousin served as a board
member for International Food and Agriculture Development (1997-2000). Her
professional experiences in retail food have included assignments as Senior
Vice President Public Affairs, Albertsons Foods (2001-2004); Group Vice
President Public Affairs, Albertsons Foods (1999-2001); and Vice-President
Government and Community Affairs, Jewel Food stores (1997-1999). During her
service as White House Liaison at the State Department (1994-1996), Cousin was
awarded the Meritorious Service Award.

"I am fully confident that Ambassador Cousin will advance international
programming that will help nourish the world with her exceptional enthusiasm
and commitment," Escarra said. "She remains one of the great hunger-relief
advocates of our time, and we applaud President Obama for choosing her. We
send Ambassador Cousin our congratulations and pledge Feeding America's
national support in helping hungry families not only to survive, but thrive."

Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity in the
United States. Each year, the Feeding America network provides food assistance
to more than 25 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States,
including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors. Our
network of more than 200 food banks serves all 50 states, the District of
Columbia and Puerto Rico. The Feeding America network secures and distributes
more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. The
Feeding America network supports approximately 63,000 local charitable
agencies that distribute food directly to Americans in need. Those agencies
operate more than 70,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens,
emergency shelters, after-school programs, Kids Cafes, Community Kitchens and
BackPack Programs.

To learn more, please visit www.feedingamerica.org.

SOURCE Feeding America

Ross Fraser of Feeding America, +1-312-641-6422