AS NEED RISES, LOCAL KRAFT FOODS' VOLUNTEERS ROLL UP SLEEVES TO HELP FAMILIES IN NEED / First Global 'Make a Delicious Difference Week' Unites 10,000+ Employees to Fight Hunger, Promote Healthy Lifestyles and Build Stronger Communities

WOBURN, Mass., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- One volunteer project. One day. Twenty Kraft Foods volunteers. What does that add up to? Families in need whose lives will be touched in the Boston area thanks to Kraft Foods' first-ever global "Make a Delicious Difference Week."

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/KRAFTLOGO)

With more than 10,000 employees in 33 countries participating around the world, this special week of service (Oct. 5-10) will benefit roughly 500,000 people in need. The effort will mobilize six times the number of volunteers than in previous efforts and build on the company's commitment to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles.

With a renewed emphasis on volunteerism, Kraft Foods has recruited more than twenty volunteers in Woburn, including Kraft Foods Woburn Plant Manager Dennis Gordon, to meet this need. "We may be best known for cooking up tasty products like Jell-O gelatin, but this week is all about making a difference in our communities," explained Gordon. "The volunteer spirit of our employees combined with the expertise of Casa Monte Cassino is a winning recipe to support families in need. Knowing our efforts here in Boston are an important ingredient in our first global week of service makes this experience even more powerful."

Local Project Details: -- Teaming up with Casa Monte Cassino to clean, paint and garden to provide the families living there with a safe, clean place to stay as the children of these families receive medical treatments at local Boston hospitals. -- Casa Monte Cassino was co-founded by Guido Vittiglio, who has worked with the Kraft Foods Atlantic Gelatin plant as a contractor for nearly three decades. Kraft Foods employees will be giving back to a cause that holds a great deal of meaning at the company's Jell-O plant.

To supplement its employees' efforts, the Kraft Foods Foundation will match U.S. employee cash contributions to nonprofits on a two-to-one basis throughout the week.

Serving Up the Spirit of Service When Needed Most

As the need rises across the metro Boston area, Kraft Foods' commitment to preventing hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles is stronger than ever.

Casa Monte Cassino, in the North End in Boston currently houses six families. The organization assists families such as one that recently traveled to Boston from Chile to receive proper medical attention for their son. The child suffers from a vascular malformation that causes veins to proliferate and swell on his face. They are provided with a free residence as they deal with some difficult times.

"Stories like these give us insight into how important it is to provide these families in need with a home as they deal with high medical bills and intense medical treatments for their children," explains Guido Vittiglio, co-founder of Casa Monte Cassino. The shocking reality is that a great number of families are affected by astronomical medical bills and limited resources here in Boston. By joining hands with my fellow Kraft Foods volunteers, we can achieve our mission of providing these families with a clean, warm and welcoming place to stay in these challenging times."

Spreading the Giving Spirit

Starting Oct. 13, people can visit http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/ to learn how to spread the volunteer spirit through a special online video. Each time this video is viewed, the Kraft Foods will donate money to Feeding America to help provide five meals to those at risk of hunger -- up to 100,000 meals through the end of October.

Kraft Foods Support of Hunger and Healthy Lifestyles

As the second largest food company in the world, Kraft Foods is taking a stand when it comes to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles. Since 1997, the company has provided more than 1 billion servings of fresh food. Around the world, the company contributes approximately $100 million annually in food and money to community organizations. The company committed $180 million in the next three years to community involvement activities around the globe. The expansion of its global employee volunteer efforts though the first global "Make a Delicious Difference Week" is another example of Kraft Foods' stepped up efforts. In Boston, the company has supported families through partnerships with organizations like Casa Monte Cassino.

Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods (http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/) makes today delicious in 150 countries around the globe. Our 100,000 employees work tirelessly to make delicious foods consumers can feel good about. From American brand icons like Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings, Maxwell House coffees and Oscar Mayer meats, to global powerhouse brands like Oreo and LU biscuits, Philadelphia cream cheeses, Jacobs and Carte Noire coffees, Tang powdered beverages and Milka, Cote d'Or, Lacta and Toblerone chocolates, our brands deliver millions of smiles every day. Kraft Foods is the world's second largest food company with annual revenues of $42 billion. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index.

-make today delicious-

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Kraft Foods

CONTACT: Ana Paula Cruz, [phone], [e-mail]; or Arielle
Himy, [phone], [e-mail]

Web Site: http://www.kraft.com/