Today nearly 250 UnitedHealthcare employees, racing legend Richard Petty, Smithfield, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), AARP and AARP Foundation are packaging 50,000 nutritious meals at UnitedHealthcare’s Greensboro office to help fight hunger among older adults.

The meals, fortified with protein and other nutrients, and designed to meet older adults’ unique dietary needs, will be distributed throughout North Carolina.

Petty, “The King” of racing, will be on hand as part of Smithfield’s “Feeding the Hungry” initiative, through which Smithfield and the UFCW are donating 30,000 pounds of pork products to the event.

Nearly 9 million older adults nationwide face the risk of hunger and are likely to go hungry without help. North Carolina ranks seventh in the United States for food insecurity among adults age 50 and older. Nearly one in four North Carolinians age 50-plus reported not having enough money to buy food in the last year, according to AARP Foundation.

“The problem of older adult hunger is particularly severe in North Carolina, where almost one out of every 10 people age 50 and older faces the threat of hunger,” said Jo Ann Jenkins, president, AARP Foundation. “By working together with UnitedHealthcare, we’re building long-term solutions and providing immediate help for people who struggle to put food on the table.”

“As a company dedicated to serving older Americans, we want to do all we can to help eliminate hunger among older adults and ensure they have access to nutritious food,” said Patty Sauro, senior vice president, UnitedHealthcare. “We are happy to join Richard Petty, Smithfield, UFCW, AARP and AARP Foundation in the fight to help end hunger among older adults.”

This event, part of UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” employee-volunteer program, is the first stage of AARP and AARP Foundation’s Drive to End Hunger Charlotte 1 Million, a week-long series of volunteer events that will package and donate 1 million meals to hungry older North Carolinians.

UnitedHealthcare employees have participated in senior hunger prevention events in Minneapolis; San Antonio; Salem, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif. Other volunteer events are scheduled later this year in cities across the country.

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 AARP Foundation
AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the Foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is the charitable affiliate of AARP. Learn more at www.aarpfoundation.org.

About Smithfield Packing www.smithfield.com and facebook.com/CookingwithSmithfield
The Smithfield Packing Company, Inc., was founded in 1936 by Joseph W. Luter and his son, Joseph W. Luter, Jr. Primary lines of business include fresh pork, smoked meats, bacon, cooked hams and hot dogs for retail, foodservice, and deli channels. The company exports products to approximately 30 countries. In addition to the Smithfield brand, its Gwaltney, Esskay, and Cumberland Gap products are among the leaders in their respective markets.

About the United Food and Commercial Workers Union
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, immigration reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org.

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 more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.

This event is only for educational purposes and no plan-specific benefits or details will be shared.