Rent-to-own News - Rent-A-Center lends support to NC food banks after devastating tornados

Rent-A-Center late last week donated $5,000 to two area food banks to assist with relief efforts in communities impacted by recent powerful tornadoes. The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina each received $2,500 donations to aid in the cause. The donations are tied to Rent-A-Center's "Random Acts of Caring" initiative, launched in 2008.

"The generosity of the community has been key in allowing us to provide relief to those who were affected by the storms that blew through a large portion of our 34-county service area," said Peter Werbicki, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. "With the support of corporate friends like Rent-A-Center, we can continue to be a light for many families as they recover."

Second Harvest Food Bank's mobile food pantry is providing bottled water and other non-perishable food items donated by community partners. "Every day we work to provide food assistance for those in need in our community which uniquely positions us to use our resources and capability to assist our community in the wake of the recent devastating storms," said David Griffin, SHFB Director.

"Through the Random Acts of Caring program, Rent-A-Center is able to support community organizations in times of need," said Todd Williams, regional director for Rent-A-Center. "It is our hope that this donation will assist these agencies in providing relief to the many families affected by this disaster."

The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina is a nonprofit organization that has provided food for people at risk of hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina for 30 years. The Food Bank serves a network of more than 800 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and programs for children and adults through warehouses in Durham, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, the Sandhills (Southern Pines) and Wilmington. In fiscal year 2009-2010, the Food Bank distributed more than 41.5 million pounds of food and non-food essentials through these agencies. Sadly, hunger remains a serious problem in central and eastern North Carolina. In these counties, more than 500,000 struggle each day to provide enough food for their families. www.foodbankcenc.org.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina (SHFB SENC) was established in 1982 and became an affiliate of Feeding America in 1994. The food bank is a member of The North Carolina Association of Feeding America Members. SHFB SENC is one of seven certified affiliates of Feeding America located in North Carolina covering all 100 counties.

The Food Bank's primary service area includes Bladen, Cumberland, Duplin, Harnett, Hoke, Robeson, and Sampson counties. The Food Bank provides nutritious food to those at risk of hunger through a network of over 200 non-profit members. There are over 200,000 individuals or 18% at risk of hunger within the 7 counties our partner agencies call home.

Rent-A-Center, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, currently operates approximately 3,000 company-owned stores nationwide and in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The stores generally offer high-quality, durable goods such as major consumer electronics, appliances, computers, furniture and accessories under flexible rental-purchase agreements that generally allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed upon rental period. Learn more at www.rentacenter.com.