More than 3,000 Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) employees will volunteer approximately 4,500 service hours as part of “Make a Difference Week,” Campbell’s annual week of service which takes place Monday, April 7, through Friday, April 11. Employees from across the United States, including three-quarters of Campbell’s staff headquartered in Camden, will participate in more than 70 volunteer projects throughout the week. Campbell will also distribute $50,000 in grants to nonprofits based on employees’ volunteer time through the company’s Dollars for Doers program.

As part of the company’s week of service, Campbell’s President and Chief Executive Officer Denise Morrison and her team will work with the New Jersey Tree Foundation to plant 40 trees at a local Camden elementary school to help improve air quality, alleviate flooding, provide shade in the area and improve the aesthetics of the neighborhood.

Campbell employees will sort and box food and package meals at the Food Bank of South Jersey, MANNA (Metropolitan AIDS Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) and Philabundance in Philadelphia; volunteer with local reading programs and schools; prepare and serve meals at the Ronald McDonald House and Cathedral Kitchen; clean and maintain churches and community centers in Camden; build raised bed community vegetable gardens and more.

“Campbell’s most inspiring achievements are not measured in dollars, but in the spirit of our employees who volunteer thousands of hours to build and sustain healthy communities,” said Morrison. “From the C-suite to the plant floor, Campbell’s people are motivated to enhance the quality of life in the areas where we live and work, starting right here in Camden.”

In addition to projects across the Delaware Valley, Campbell is running a kids’ backpack program at several of its sites across the country, including its plants in Napoleon, Ohio, Bloomfield, Conn. and Lakeland, Fla. The program aims to supply a backpack full of food to youth who are on the National School Lunch Program during the school week, but do not know where their next meal is coming from on the weekend. The backpacks are filled with shelf-stable items from seven different food categories, ranging from protein to fruits and vegetables that are easy to prepare and nutritionally sound. The goal is to provide enough food to sustain one child through the weekend in each backpack. Campbell expects to collect more than 3,000 backpacks full of food for children in need.

Campbell expanded national “Make a Difference Day” to “Make a Difference Week” seven years ago after a record number of employees expressed interest in volunteering. The following is a list of highlighted local activities for “Make a Difference Week”:

Tuesday, April 8
Harry C. Sharp Elementary School
928 North 32nd Street
Camden, NJ
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Volunteers will plant new trees around the school in collaboration with the NJ Tree Foundation; Campbell’s executive leadership team will be participating.

Wednesday, April 9
Food Bank of South Jersey
1501 John Tipton Blvd.
Pennsauken, NJ
9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Volunteers will sort and box food.

Thursday, April 10
Center for Family Services Head Start
1172 Lawrence Street
Camden, NJ
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Volunteers will read to Head Start students.

Philabundance
3616 S. Galloway Street
Philadelphia, PA
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Volunteers will sort and box food.

Friday, April 11
Center for Family Services
1172 Lawrence Street
Camden, NJ
12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Volunteers will create, fill and paint raised bed vegetable gardens.

Campbell’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategies are designed to deliver measurable impacts in four key areas: Our Consumers, Our Planet, Our Employees and Our Community. To learn more visit www.campbellsoupcompany.com/csr.

About Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company is a manufacturer and marketer of high-quality foods and simple meals, including soup and sauces, snacks and healthy beverages. Founded in 1869, the company has a portfolio of market-leading brands, including “Campbell’s,” “Pepperidge Farm,” “Arnott’s,” “V8,” “Bolthouse Farms,” “Plum Organics” and “Kjeldsens.” Through its corporate social responsibility program, the company strives to make a positive impact in the workplace, in the marketplace and in the communities in which it operates. Campbell is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. For more information, visit www.campbellsoup.com or follow company news on Twitter via @CambellSoupCo