NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Morgan Stanley Foundation today announced $750,000 in grants to local food banks in 15 cities across 11 states to support hunger-relief programs that deliver nutritious meals to children and families. Over the past four years, this specific grant program has awarded more than $5 million from the Morgan Stanley Foundation to help launch, expand and sustain critical childhood feeding programs.

Through its partnership with Feeding America, Morgan Stanley Foundation has awarded more than $21 million to the organization and its network of 200 local food banks that help address childhood hunger through a series of programs that provide nutritious food to children and their families.

“We are proud to continue our partnership with Feeding America and its network of local food banks to ensure every child has access to nutritious food,” said Joan Steinberg, Global Head of Philanthropy at Morgan Stanley. “Through partnerships like these and our employee volunteers, we remain committed to giving children in the communities where we live and work a healthy start to life.

The following food banks are recipients of the Morgan Stanley Foundation grants:

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County (Irvine, CA)

• Feeding San Diego (San Diego, CA)

• Redwood Empire Food Bank (Santa Rosa, CA)

• Connecticut Food Bank (Wallingford, CT)

• Atlanta Community Food Bank (Atlanta, GA)

• The Greater Boston Food Bank (Boston, MA)

• Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan (Detroit, MI)

• Mississippi Food Network (Jackson, MS)

• MANNA FoodBank (Asheville, NC)

• Food Bank for the Heartland (Omaha, NE)

• Community Foodbank of New Jersey (Hillside, NJ)

• NORWESCAP Food Bank (Phillipsburg, NJ)

• Island Harvest (Bethpage, NY)

• Food Bank for Westchester (Elmsford, NY)

• FeedMore (Richmond, VA)

These grants build on the Morgan Stanley Foundation’s longstanding commitment to children’s health. Feeding America also serves as a lead national partner, along with KaBOOM!, in the United States for Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities, an innovative initiative that creates a hub with national and local nonprofits for wellness, nutrition and play resources that can underpin a child's healthy start in life.

Food insecurity continues to be an issue facing millions of Americans. According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released in September 2016, 42 million people in the United States are living in food-insecure households, 13 million of whom are children. Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2014 study found that 89 percent of Feeding America’s client households with at least one child lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 42 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

About Feeding America

Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170608005266/en/