The New York City Investment Fund will Fund Loan to Red Rabbit to Expand its Kitchen Facilities and Finance Growth-Related Working Capital

    HARLEM, NY, June 28, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The New York City Investment Fund, a division of The Partnership for New York City, has funded a loan to Red Rabbit to expand its kitchen facilities and finance growth-related working capital. Red Rabbit provides more than 12,000 healthy breakfasts, lunches, and snacks daily to 70 charter, private, preschool, and after school programs throughout New York City; the majority of which are located in low income communities. Red Rabbit believes that good nutrition is essential to a child's academic growth, physical health, and behavior. This loan will enable the company to provide more healthy meals to New York City school children.

Red Rabbit's customers include Head Start programs, independent and network charter schools such as Hyde Leadership Charter School, Harlem Success Academy and Achievement First, afterschool programs, and independent schools. The meals are priced at federal reimbursement rates, making healthy food accessible to the most underserved communities. Red Rabbit offers customized service to each school with a choice of breakfast, lunch, snack or all three provided in individual packs, family style or cafeteria service. Meals are prepared daily in the company's Harlem commissary from locally sourced fruit, vegetables, and dairy products; each meal is fresh and nothing is fried. In addition to nutritious meals, Red Rabbit provides educational programs for students, teachers, and parents, including in-school cooking labs, gardening labs, afterschool and summer programs, and Saturday classes for the whole family.

"Providing healthy meals and teaching healthy eating habits to the whole community is a critical driver of the long-term success of our children," said Maria Gotsch, President & CEO of the New York City Investment Fund. "The Partnership for New York City is proud to support Red Rabbit in their endeavor to continue to deliver over 10,000 healthy meals to schools throughout New York City."

Red Rabbit, a minority-owned business established in 2005, currently employs 49 people and anticipates growing to 100 employees by year-end. New York City Investment Fund's loan will enable Red Rabbit to expand production in its Harlem commissary and add satellite kitchens in Brooklyn and Queens.

Red Rabbit is an innovative NYC-based company that is proud to be at the center of today's food revolution by solving a critical problem facing administrators, parents and kids: how to eat healthy at school. From their kitchens, Red Rabbit prepares and delivers thousands of farm fresh, locally sourced, kid tested meals--breakfasts, lunches, snacks and suppers--to school children across the Greater New York Area. And they also have an active educational program that brings the healthy eating message to kids and parents alike. For more information visit www.myredrabbit.com.

# # #