The Uncle Ben’s® Brand Awards Second Grader $30,000 For School Cafeteria Makeover And $15,000 Cash Prize For Inspiring Families To Cook Together

The UNCLE BEN’S® Brand, the number-one selling brand of rice in the United States, named Claire Noles, 7, and her mother Rachel of Boaz, Alabama the grand prize winners of the Ben’s Beginners™ Cooking Contest.

Three finalists were selected from nearly 1,000 entrants (grades kindergarten-8th) who submitted videos of themselves and their families preparing a rice-based dish as part of the second annual cooking contest. Claire and Rachel Noles were selected as the grand prize winners and awarded with a $15,000 cash prize, two appearances on the Rachael Ray Show and a $30,000 cafeteria makeover for Corley Elementary School, located in Boaz, Ala., where Claire attends as a second grade student. 

“Our mission behind Ben’s Beginners™ is to help inspire more families to get in the kitchen together,” said Tim Snyder, vice president of sales and marketing, Mars Food US, the parent company of the UNCLE BEN’S® Brand. “We believe that by getting in the kitchen at an early age you form better relationships with food and get a healthier start in life. The Noles family is a great example of how you can use meal time to connect with each other and have some fun by trying out new ingredients and recipes.”

“We’re thrilled that Claire has won this contest for our community and our school,” said Ashley Walls, Principal at Corley Elementary School. “Our cafeteria does not have a kitchen, so this donation will go a long ways in helping us build our lunch program.”

The UNCLE BEN’S® Brand has also awarded each of the two runners up: the Williams family of Alpharetta, GA, and the Wolfe family of New York, NY, with $5,000 cash and a $10,000 cafeteria makeover for their child’s school.

Corley Elementary School celebrated their hometown hero today by hosting an assembly which included a check presentation and a cooking demonstration in which Claire prepared her winning recipe, “Chicken and Rice Supreme” for state, county, and city officials, community leaders, and more than 1,500 students and classmates. 

More information on the contest, kid-friendly recipe ideas and cooking tips can be found at www.unclebens.com.

About the UNCLE BEN’S® Brand
The UNCLE BEN’S® Brand, the number one rice brand in America, is proud to offer a wide range of rice dishes with flavors and grains that will help bring more to your meals, both for convenient side dishes and savory main courses. The UNCLE BEN’S® Brand offers a wide variety of white, whole grain brown, and flavored rices in cook times ranging from 90 seconds to 30 minutes, as well as rice for food service operations such as restaurants, schools and hospitals. The first mass-produced parboiled rice, UNCLE BEN’S® Brand is the top-selling branded rice in the United States and products can be found in more than 100 countries worldwide. The UNCLE BEN’S® Brand products are manufactured by Mars Food North America, part of Mars, Incorporated. For more information, visit www.unclebens.com. 

About Mars, Incorporated
In 1911, Frank C. Mars made the first Mars candies in his Tacoma, Washington kitchen and established Mars’ first roots as a confectionery company.  In the 1920s, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. joined his father in business and together they launched the MILKY WAY® bar. In 1932, Forrest, Sr. moved to the United Kingdom with a dream of  building a business based on the objective of creating a “mutuality of benefits for all stakeholders” – this objective serves as the foundation of Mars, Incorporated today. Based in McLean, Virginia, Mars has net sales of more than $33 billion, six business segments including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks, Symbioscience, and more than 72,000 Associates worldwide that are putting its Principles into action to make a difference for people and the planet through its performance.

Mars brands include: Petcare – PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, KITEKAT®, BANFIELD® Pet Hospital and NUTRO®; Chocolate – M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, DOVE®, GALAXY®, MARS®, MILKY WAY® and TWIX®; Wrigley – DOUBLEMINT®, EXTRA®, ORBIT® and 5™ chewing gums, SKITTLES® and STARBURST® candies, and ALTOIDS® AND LIFESAVERS® mints.  Food – UNCLE BEN’S®, DOLMIO®, EBLY®, MASTERFOODS®, SEEDS OF CHANGE® and ROYCO®; Drinks – ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS™, THE BRIGHT TEA COMPANY™, KLIX® and FLAVIA®; Symbioscience – COCOAVIA® and WISDOM PANEL®.

For more information, please visit www.mars.com. Follow us: facebook.com/mars, twitter.com/marsglobal, youtube.com/mars, linkedin.com/company/mars