NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced a new grant of $1.85 million to Feeding America, including $1 million allocated to local food banks in 21 cities across 14 states, supporting hunger-relief programs that deliver food assistance and healthy meals to children and families. Employees will be participating in hundreds of volunteer projects next month as part of Morgan Stanley’s Global Volunteer Month, including giving their time to local Feeding America network food banks on May 31 as part of Feeding Kids Around the Clock, a 24-hour, global effort to fight childhood hunger.

Morgan Stanley is committed to providing children with a healthy start to life, and access to nutritious food is a crucial part of that mission. The Firm has supported Feeding America since 2009 and has spent the last decade working with member food banks to help develop, launch and sustain critical child nutrition programs through child hunger grants while expanding access to fresh produce through produce grants. Today’s new grants, which also includes funding to provide training and support for Feeding America and their member food banks, bring Morgan Stanley’s support total to more than $23 million, benefiting 117 food banks providing over 211 million meals around the country.

“Feeding America has been a longstanding, essential partner in our mission to ensure children have the key building blocks to a healthy start in life, which includes regular access to nutritious food,” said Joan Steinberg, Global Head of Philanthropy at Morgan Stanley. “We are proud to celebrate our 10^th anniversary with Feeding America, demonstrating our deep rooted commitment to driving real impact and fighting child hunger, both financially and through our dedicated employee volunteers who feel strongly about giving their time to better their communities.”

Food insecurity is a crucial problem facing millions of Americans today. Forty million people face hunger in the United States, including more than 12 million children. This issue becomes even more urgent over the summer months, when children who rely on free or reduced-price meals at school no longer have access to this food. In fact, during these summer months, of the 22 million children that receive free or reduced-priced food, over 18 million will lose access to these crucial meals, potentially leading to life long, detrimental damages. Feeding America is actively working to solve the issue of summer hunger. In 2018, Feeding America’s network served nearly 24 million meals through summer programs in June-August, and grants like these help increase impact in the fight against hunger across the nation.

“More than 12 million children in America live at risk of hunger,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “In order to solve hunger, we need strong partners that are willing to make long-term investments in our strategies. We are grateful to Morgan Stanley for their crucial support these last ten years.”

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

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit .

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