In preparation for the start of another school year, ORIX Foundation volunteers gathered at the North Texas Food Bank to pack backpacks of nutritious food for the Food 4 Kids program.

Uptown resident Lauren Rivet, an ORIX USA senior internal auditor who regularly volunteers with ORIX Foundation, came to the Food Bank to do her part with her colleagues. She said, “Helping kids has always been something our foundation volunteers have been passionate about, and so investing in and volunteering for North Texas Food Bank is a logical fit. Nutritious, healthy food is the foundation of good health for kids. It’s essential for them to thrive in every part of their life, including school.”

The program provides backpacks of non-perishable, nutritious, kid-friendly food for approximately 11,000 chronically hungry elementary school children to take home every Friday during the school year. Children on the free and reduced-price school meal program often face hunger when these meals are not readily available on weekends.

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for the work that the North Texas Food Bank does in our community, and I feel safe in saying the employees at ORIX USA feel the same way,” commented ORIX USA senior internal auditor Melisa Hudman, “Investing time and money in the Food Bank has been something our employees care about, and therefore something ORIX Foundation has invested in, since we launched the foundation in 2009.”

ORIX Foundation has provided 36,000 Food 4 Kids backpacks through its grants to the Food Bank, which have totaled more than $210,000 over the past four years. Grants to the Food Bank have been made as a part of the organization’s charitable giving program, which is led by ORIX employees who volunteer their time to review applications, make site visits and make recommendations on funding to the foundation’s board.

Since it was founded in 2009, ORIX Foundation has committed more than $3.7 million to nonprofit organizations primarily in ORIX USA’s headquarters region of North Texas.