Championing Breakfasts for Better Days
Written by Stephanie Slingerland
Director
Philanthropy/Social Impact
Every day, on my way to work, I think about my family - my husband and our two young children - and then I think about all the other families I have an opportunity to help because of my work at Kellogg. As a member of the Global Corporate Affairs team, I lead our Breakfasts for Better Days™ signature cause platform that is addressing food security and creating three billion Better Days around the world by the end of 2025.
My #LifeAtK started in 2006 as a graduate intern, and I've held a variety of Communications roles at the company before finding my real passion with our Philanthropy team. This work inspires me. Not only do I value our commitment to feeding people in need, but I am energized by the fact that our leaders see our Heart & Soul Strategy as a key contributor to our Deploy for Growth agenda. We don't view philanthropy as "nice-to-do," we view it as instrumental to fulfilling our purpose of nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive.
"The schools are very excited about the impact this project will have in the upcoming school year.
The harvest will be used in science lessons and be sent home with families in need."
And, we're making a difference. In 2017, we:
- Donated 570 million servings of food to food banks, breakfast clubs and disaster relief
- Reached 586,772 children through feeding programs and nutrition education
- Supported 300,0000 farmers to increase yields, livelihoods and climate resilience
- Achieved 7,451 employee and retiree volunteer hours
- Engaged 66.7 million people around the important topic of food security
One of the ways we've recently brought these commitments to life in the U.S. was through our summer 2018 United Against Food Deserts program with our charity partner, United Way. Working with seven of our beloved brands as sponsors and employee volunteers, we planted community gardens in nine food deserts. (About 2.3 million people live in a food desert – meaning they live more than one mile away from a supermarket – and do not own a car for easy access to fresh food.) Kellogg volunteers helped plant and care for the gardens all summer long. In the fall, the harvests provided much needed fruits and vegetables to local residents who don't always have access to these healthy foods.
Work like this wouldn't happen without our dedicated employee volunteers. In Louisiana, a local United Way coordinator told us, "The schools are very excited about the impact this project will have in the upcoming school year. The harvest will be used in science lessons and be sent home with families in need." And in Pennsylvania, we heard from a 10-year old volunteer, "Kids shouldn't be hungry. It was really fun helping with the garden so families get good food. I also liked seeing Tony the Tiger. He was awesome!"
I'm proud to work for a company that shares my values and that helps people in need around the world.
