Washington, D.C. - Today, United States Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry kicked off a federal workers' drive to gather one million pounds of food this summer for the Capital Area Food Bank and other food banks across the country. The Feds Feed Families is a government-wide campaign to bring non-perishable food items to work throughout the summer months. OPM Director Berry and Congressman Frank Wolf (VA) introduced the campaign this afternoon at the Merrifield food pantry, Food For Others, Northern Virginia's largest distributor of food for families in need. Earlier in the morning, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton joined Director Berry kick off the drive at OPM headquarters in the District of Columbia.

"President Obama has challenged us to give back to our communities this summer and to help lay a new foundation for growth in this country by engaging in sustained, meaningful community service. Federal employees have rapidly responded to that call," said OPM Director John Berry. "Summer break is a fun time for kids, but without school lunch, too many are missing out on nutritious meals," he said. "Federal workers put a man on the Moon, we can meet this challenge too."

OPM launched the Feds Feed Families campaign, in partnership with the Federal Chief Human Capital Officers Council, as part of the United We Serve initiative announced by First Lady Michelle Obama on Monday. The initiative encourages all Americans to take part in volunteer service projects which benefit their communities. The United States Department of Transportation and Department of Defense have worked to coordinate collection efforts for the drive across the capital region. Additional support has been provided by the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C.

The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) is the largest recipient of the drive, with additional Federal efforts across the country benefiting local food banks. The CAFB is the largest non-profit hunger resource in the Washington, DC area. Food For Others, where today's announcement was made, is a recipient of non-perishable food from the Capital Area Food Bank. Federal workers are organizing collection efforts in nearly every agency and they can track their own progress this summer through FedsFeedFamilies.gov.

For more information of the Feds Feed Families campaign, visit: www.FedsFeedFamilies.gov