AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -

One in five children are hungry in the Detroit metro area, and thousands of Chrysler employees took to the streets to collect food for the fight.

The automaker partnered with United Way for Southeastern Michigan to gather food donations and raise awareness for underused summer meal programs, serving up more than 100,000 meals for children from June through August.

Employee-supported initiatives included volunteering at local food pantries, company and community food drives, community summer food program events, and even an online pledge to end hunger by sharing information through social media, the company said.

“We couldn’t have achieved such success without combining forces with a company like Chrysler and other Detroit-based organizations,” said Eric Davis, director of Food Initiative for United Way for Southeastern Michigan. “The fact that we can rally together and utilize our resources to ignite change in such a critical issue like childhood hunger shows the commitment of these organizations to Detroit and its surrounding communities.”

Nancy Rae, senior vice president of human resources for Chrysler Group, said, “The response to this challenge has been overwhelming. With one in five children across Michigan struggling to access nutritious food, childhood hunger is an issue that really hits home for the employees working in our plants and offices. It’s truly rewarding to see how their spirit of volunteerism and devotion to the cause has made a difference.

“We are in a fortunate position, as a company and as individuals, to reach out to our neighbors, especially children, to help provide a degree of stability to their lives,” Rae said.

Through company-wide food drives and door-to-door collections, Chrysler Group employees collected 16 tons of non-perishable food during the project, enough to prepare 28,000 meals. The drives, held in partnership with the United Auto Workers, benefited local food pantries operated by Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.

The Chrysler Foundation and Chrysler Group also partnered with Gleaners to fill and distribute 12,000 weekend backpacks of nutritious food for children at risk of hunger and malnutrition, particularly on weekends when summer food service programs are not available, Chrysler said.

The UAW, UWSEM and Chrysler Group teamed up to create events held during the month of August at various locations throughout the Detroit metro area, including Food, Friends and Fun block parties created to remind parents about free available summer meals programs.