The North American Crop Protection Division of BASF announced today that the company will make an end-of-year donation of $50,000 to hunger relief programs. The donation is split between a $25,000 gift to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and $25,000 to Feeding America’s national office.

“BASF creates chemistry that helps our growers produce crops that feed people around the world,” said Nevin McDougall, Senior Vice President, Crop Protection, for BASF in North America. “We are proud to support the efforts of Feeding America to help provide meals for the hungry throughout the country. We are also pleased to continue our strong partnership with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina to support our neighbors here in our hometown.”

More than 560,000 people struggle to provide enough food for their families in the 34 counties served by the Food Bank. The organization serves a network of more than 800 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and programs for children and adults through distribution centers in Durham, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, Southern Pines, and Wilmington.

“We are thrilled that BASF continues to stand up against hunger by partnering with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Their generous gift of $25,000 will enable the Food Bank to provide 125,000 nutritious holiday meals to individuals, families and children in need across our 34-county service area,” said Peter Werbicki, President/CEO for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. “We have shared commitments to community health and hunger relief. And having a partner like BASF working with us throughout the year means hope for hundreds of thousands of individuals living with hunger.”

BASF also recently established a partnership with Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

“We’re grateful to partners such as BASF for making a difference in communities struggling with hunger at both the local and national level,” said Leah Ray, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Feeding America. “Each dollar helps provide nine meals to people in need.”

The mission of Feeding America is to provide food for America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks — currently 203 food banks, including the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina — and 61,000 shelters, food pantries and soup kitchens. The organization also works to engage the country in the fight to end hunger.

“We hope that our donations will make a difference this holiday season, but we also will continue to work with both Feeding America and our local Food Bank throughout 2014 through volunteer programs, food drives and other financial contributions,” McDougall said. “This partnership reaffirms BASF’s commitment to the health and sustainability of our communities.”