Tampa Bay Buccaneers Join UnitedHealthcare Employees to Tackle Senior Hunger

• More than 100 people to help pack food at Feeding America Tampa Bay
• Activities part of AARP Foundation’s national ‘Drive to End Hunger’ program and UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” initiative

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tampa Bay Buccaneers players, cheerleaders and team mascot Captain Fear are joining more than 100 UnitedHealthcare employees today to pack food boxes at Feeding America Tampa Bay.

“By teaming up to support Feeding America Tampa Bay, we hope to make a positive impact on the quality of life for our communities’ seniors and reach more seniors who desperately need help accessing nutritious foods.”

The athletes and employees are working together to fight senior hunger and help the food bank provide 10,000 meals to hungry seniors throughout west central Florida. This activity is part of UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” employee volunteer initiative and AARP Foundation’s broader “Drive to End Hunger” program.

In addition to the volunteer event, four UnitedHealthcare offices in Tampa and the surrounding area will host food drives Oct. 31-Nov. 4. The goal is to collect 13,000 pounds of food.

“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and UnitedHealthcare are both deeply committed to the central Florida community,” said Miray Holmes, director of community relations, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “By teaming up to support Feeding America Tampa Bay, we hope to make a positive impact on the quality of life for our communities’ seniors and reach more seniors who desperately need help accessing nutritious foods.”

“With support from the community and partners like UnitedHealthcare, this is a tremendous boost in helping to alleviate hunger in the Tampa area,” said Pat Rogers, executive director, Feeding America Tampa Bay. “Together we can elevate our effort to feed people in need, particularly our vulnerable seniors.”

About 9 million older adults nationwide face the threat of hunger and are likely to go hungry without public assistance. One in five Floridians residents reported not having enough money to buy food in the last year. Florida ranks 24^th among all states for risk of senior hunger, with more than five percent of Florida’s seniors at risk, according to AARP. Senior hunger is defined as people ages 60 and over who are at-risk of hunger or suffering from hunger due to financial constraints.

“We appreciate the opportunity to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today to make a difference in the lives of Florida seniors and to ensure they have access to fresh, nutritious food,” said Tom Paul, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement. “Feeding America Tampa Bay provides a vital service to the people of west central Florida, and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with them in the fight against senior hunger.”

UnitedHealthcare employees have participated in senior hunger prevention events in Salem, Va., and Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif. Other volunteer events are scheduled for Minneapolis, San Antonio and San Francisco.

For more information about the benefits of volunteering and to find local opportunities to get involved, visit www.DoGoodLiveWell.org. Follow @DoGoodLiveWell on Twitter or “like” Do Good. Live Well. on Facebook.

About Feeding America Tampa Bay
Founded in 1982, Feeding America Tampa Bay receives surplus food donations from growers, manufacturers, supermarkets and organized community food drives and distributes it to the hungry through a network of 600 hunger relief organizations across West Central Florida. The Tampa-based food bank serves a poverty population of close to 600,000, providing 19 million pounds of food to its 10-county service area last year. Feeding America Tampa Bay is a member of the national Feeding America network. feedingamericatampabay.org

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.