The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation hosted a Rise Against Hunger event Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill, enlisting dozens of members of Congress and other officials in packaging meals for the hungry. John Cahill, vice chairman of Kraft Heinz, said the event surpassed its goal of 15,000 meals. Cahill said that having members of Congress volunteer at the event helped call attention to how critical it is to address hunger in the U.S. and beyond. In addition, he said, “It’s great for our employees to see that Congress is so supportive." Out of their 40,000 employees, 30,000 Kraft Heinz employees participate in meal packaging events throughout the course of the year. Cahill said he packed 2,500 meals at his table at Tuesday's event. “Nobody here is doing individual meals, it’s all an assembly line, so we're all in this together,” he said. Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts called the event "a wonderful display of a private/public partnership, adding, "Thank goodness to Kraft Heinz for doing this.” The Kansas Republican noted that 800 million people around the world go to bed each night malnourished. "We got quite a few organizations that are working on this, but the public/private part of this is so terribly important," he said.
