Donations Can Be Made at Grocery Store Check-out Counters

HILLSIDE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 2006--New Jersey is one of the nation's most affluent states, yet 1.7 million of its residents-- including one in every eight children-- live in households that struggle each month to meet their most basic needs for food, shelter and healthcare. Additionally, about three-quarters of a million residents earn less than the federal cut-off for poverty, which is $20,000 a year for a family of four.

To help combat this devastating problem and make the holidays a bit merrier for some, Princeton-based NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG), one of the country's leading energy providers, has signed on as the statewide sponsor of the Check-Out Hunger campaign, a national fundraiser that benefits America's Second Harvest Food Banks and their local New Jersey affiliates. NRG donated $100,000 toward this year's program and has committed to match this amount for 2007 and 2008.

"New Jersey has the second highest per capita income of any state in the nation, yet almost a fifth of the state's population is considered poor," said David Crane, President and Chief Executive Officer, NRG Energy, Inc. "NRG and its employees are committed to ensuring that New Jersey's most disadvantaged residents are able to feed themselves and their families not only at the holidays, but all year round."

Throughout the holiday season, shoppers in every A&P, Food Basics, Foodtown, Kings, Pathmark, ShopRite, Wawa and Wegmans will find $1, $3 and $5 donation slips on "Check-Out Hunger" placards in the cashier aisle.

Thanks to the generosity of the participating supermarkets and the corporate sponsorship of NRG Energy, 100 percent of every donation made to "Check-Out Hunger" goes directly to New Jersey's food banks. Donations go toward helping emergency pantries, senior meal programs, shelters, low-income day care centers and soup kitchens meet the growing need of New Jersey's poorest residents. Together, these charities serve nearly one million low-income people each year, many of them children and the frail elderly.

"Because the FoodBank is able to leverage every dollar donated many times over, the funds raised will help us provide much-needed food throughout the critical winter months when high utility bills put added strain on so many low-income families," said Kathleen DiChiara, Executive Director of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Close to Home

In Mercer County, where NRG is headquartered, every dollar contributed to Check-Out Hunger will be donated to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank, a group which strives to alleviate hunger through food distribution, nutrition education, advocacy and outreach. The Food Bank receives and distributes more than 1.5 million pounds of food each year to more than 17,000 residents in Mercer County alone.

County agencies that receive food from the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank include Crisis Ministry of Trenton and Princeton, Homefront, Mt. Carmel Guild, Rescue Mission of Trenton and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

Check-Out Hunger will run through December 31 in these participating Mercer County grocery stores: Marrazzo's (Robbinsville), McCaffrey's (Princeton and West Windsor), Pennington Quality Market, Shoprite (multiple locations), Superfresh (East Windsor and Hamilton) and Wegman's Market (Princeton).

    Photos are available upon request.

    About The Community FoodBank of New Jersey

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the state's largest distributor of food to non-profit organizations serving people in need, distributed over 22 million pounds of groceries last year, ultimately reaching more than 530,000 low-income people in 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties. The FoodBank also operates a free job training program to prepare men and women for careers in the food service industry, a Kids Cafe Program, providing free evening meals to hundreds of at-risk children in after school programs and a Kids Division, which distributes new donated clothing and school supplies to kids in need. Learn more at www.njfoodbank.org.

About NRG Energy, Inc.

NRG Energy, Inc. owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power-generating facilities, primarily in Texas and the Northeast, South Central and Western regions of the United States. Its operations include baseload, intermediate, peaking, cogeneration facilities and thermal energy production. NRG also has ownership interests in generating facilities in Australia, Germany and Brazil.

    CONTACT: Media Contacts:
             Community FoodBank of New Jersey
             Meara Nigro, 908-355-3663, ext. 238
             or
             Mercer Street Friends
             Janina Akins, 609-396-1524

    SOURCE: NRG Energy