Americans have stepped-up to the Challenge and pledged to lose more than 6.2 million pounds in the second year of the Pound For Pound Challenge on NBC's The Biggest Loser. Building on last year's 3.5 million pound pledge, to date, the charitable initiative will result in Feeding America's delivery of more than 9.7 million pounds of groceries to local food banks.
The Pound For Pound Challenge encourages Americans to lose weight nationally to help provide hunger relief locally. Beginning on January 5, the Challenge asked Americans to enter their weight loss goals at www.PFPChallenge.com or www.BiggestLoser.com. In its second year, for every pound of weight participants pledged to lose, the Pound For Pound Challenge donated 14 cents to Feeding America – enough to deliver one pound of groceries to a local food bank.
"We're so grateful to be a part of a program that is spreading awareness about the hunger issue," said Vicki B. Escarra, president and CEO, Feeding America."The Pound For Pound Challenge will help deliver much needed groceries to 200 participating food banks across the nation that are facing an unprecedented demand and are in need of support more than ever."
"We never imagined we'd reach almost 10 million pounds pledged to the Pound For Pound Challenge in just two years. Even more impressive is the fact we've almost doubled the amount of pounds pledged in the last year. Like The Biggest Loser, we hope this initiative continues to inspire people to improve their health, while helping to fight hunger," said Mark Koops, Managing Director of Reveille, the production company behind NBC's The Biggest Loser.
This year the Challenge ignited community involvement and friendly competition by earmarking pounds pledged by participating cities and states. Participants also selected the Feeding America food banks that benefited from their weight-loss. Food banks in St. Paul, Minn., Shoreline, Wash., Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., and Denver received the highest amount of pledges, with more than 100,000 pounds each.
Partners in this fight against hunger included NBC's The Biggest Loser, General Mills, Subway, 24 Hour Fitness, Walgreens, Kroger and Feeding America. Americans were able to track the progress and donations of The Pound For Pound Challenge on episodes of season nine of The Biggest Loser which concluded on May 25.
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About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 5.3 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
General Mills and The Biggest Loser
General Mills
One of the world's leading food companies, General Mills operates in over 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, H�agen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., General Mills had fiscal 2009 global net sales of US$15.9 billion, including the company's $1.2 billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales. Visit www.generalmills.com
The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser airs on NBC Tuesdays at 8 pm (ET). The first reality series where everybody "loses," The Biggest Loser challenges and encourages overweight contestants to shed pounds in a safe and recommended manner through comprehensive diet and exercise as they compete for a grand prize of $250,000. Hosted by Alison Sweeney, the series provides the contestants with challenges, temptations, weigh-ins and eliminations until the final contestant remains to claim the title of "the biggest loser." Each team works out under the supervision of professional trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. The Biggest Loser is a production of Reveille LLC, 25/7 Productions and 3 Ball Productions.
Beyond the U.S. where more than 100 episodes of the show have aired, The Biggest Loser has become a worldwide hit appearing in over 90 countries and produced in 28 countries. Since its debut in 2004, The Biggest Loser has grown to become a standalone health and lifestyle brand by developing tools and products inspired by the show and approved by its doctors and experts. Anchored by the online, subscription-based extension of the show, Biggestloserclub.com, from Rodale, The Biggest Loser consumer products program has generated over $100 million in spending, with presence at more than 25,000 major retailers to date. The program currently features a wide variety of health and fitness products including The Biggest Loser video game for Wii and Nintendo DS & DSi, The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge, which is a full-service, destination health & fitness spa, The Biggest Loser Meal Plan, a New York Times best-selling books series, a best-selling fitness DVD series, a line of appliances, fitness equipment, protein supplements and several other health and lifestyle based products. The Biggest Loser was recognized as a top brand of the year in Advertising Age's 2008 Marketing 50. Check out www.biggestloser.com for more information.
