As a company with deep roots in the North Carolina community, Cisco will today present a$463,000 check to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.  This contribution is part of the Cisco's 12^thAnnual Global Hunger Relief Campaign and reflects donations from more than 600 employees to the Food Bank, as well as matching funds from the Cisco Foundation and John Morgridge's TOSA Foundation.

The donation will be presented today at a food sort at the Food Bank's Durham branch, which will be attended by U.S. Congresswoman Renee Ellmers of North Carolina, Food Bank President Peter Werbicki, Food Bank Board Chairman Barry Barber, as well as three dozen Cisco volunteers.

Hunger is a silent tragedy, which affects more than half a million people in North Carolina every month.  At Cisco, we've made fighting hunger a company-wide priority, and are incredibly proud of our longstanding support for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.  The work the Food Bank does is critically important in our community.

Helping Families in Need
Food insecurity remains a serious problem in Central and Eastern North Carolina.  More than 651,000 individuals struggle to access nutritious and adequate amounts of food every year.  One in 3 of these individuals are children, and 8 percent are elderly, and 30 percent of these households have at least one employed adult.

Established in 1980, the Food bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina is a nonprofit organization that provides food for people at risk of hunger in 34 counties.  Last year, the Food Bank distributed more than 53 million meals to a network of more than 800 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and programs for children and adults through 6 branches in Durham, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, Sandhills (Southern Pines) and Wilmington.

Cisco's Global Hunger Relief Campaign
In addition to the direct donations, Cisco employees have volunteered more than 1,500 hours at the Food Bank.  Cisco has proudly supported the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina since 1996, and is the single largest corporate contributor to the organization.

Tuesday's event is just one part of Cisco's annual giving campaign to help stop global hunger in Raleigh-Durham and around the world. This is Cisco's 12^th annual Global Hunger Relief Campaign, involving over 160 food agencies worldwide.

Since Cisco began our hunger relief campaign, we have raised more than$40 million dollars for hunger relief, which translates into nearly 160 million meals for those who need it most.