Los Angeles Regional Foodbank Receives Major Donation from Chase to Help the County’s Growing Hungry

At a time when more and more families in Los Angeles face the threat of going hungry, Los Angeles Regional Foodbank announced today that Chase will donate two refrigerated food delivery trucks, supplying Los Angeles’s hungry with fruits, vegetables and other fresh foods.

The truck will be used to collect and distribute food to thousands of hungry people throughout Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles Regional Foodbank President/CEO Michael Flood says, "This donation could not come at a more critical period when charitable giving is down due to the economy. Organizations like the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank are vital to helping those most impacted by these tough times. These trucks will be vital in helping our neighbors get through the biggest economic crisis we’ve experienced in recent memory. We are deeply grateful to Chase for this generous donation.”

Unemployment rates and poverty rates have risen in virtually all California communities, including cities that have not traditionally faced dire economic challenges. The unemployment rate in Los Angeles County rose to 12.2% from 11.6% a year ago. . The total number of people receiving food assistance through the Foodbank’s emergency food network has increased 46% since 2005 to 983,400 people in 2009. The number of children has more than doubled to 393,000 in the same time period

"Chase's donation enables Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to deliver up to an additional two million pounds of food per year in Los Angeles County through the full-capacity use of the new trucks," said Antonio Manning, manager of Chase's community relations. "During the past decade, we've provided nearly $9 million in support to hunger-related programs nationally. We're committed to helping drive out hunger in the communities that Chase serves."

Chase announced its donation in Los Angeles as part of a $5 million national grant to Feeding America and its nationwide network of food banks. This donation marks the largest single corporate donation that Feeding America has received from a corporation to date. The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is a member of the Feeding America network.

The national donation will support hunger-fighting initiatives, supplying 34 trucks to 20 food banks in communities hit hard by the recession. The trucks’ destinations include Feeding America network food banks in 19 cities and local communities nationwide. With the new trucks, food banks can transport up to 1.5 million pounds of food -- the equivalent of 1,171,185 additional meals -- annually.

JPMorgan Chase has given nearly $9 million to help food bank and hunger related programs over the past 10 years, not including the recent donation to Feeding America. Chase’s donation to Feeding America will cover the costs of purchasing and operating food delivery trucks in the following communities:

To learn more about hunger in Los Angeles and how you can help please visit: www.lafoodbank.org

About the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank

The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization established in 1973 and is one of the largest food banks in the United States. Through a network of 560 charitable agencies providing service from 900 agency sites, the Foodbank supplies enough food for 750,000 meals each week throughout Los Angeles County. The Foodbank is a partner with Feeding America. For more information, visit http://www.lafoodbank.org.

About Chase

Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which operates more than 5,100 branches and 15,000 ATMs nationally under the Chase brand. Chase has 146 million credit cards issued and serves consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs and mortgage offices as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.