Nordson Corporation Foundation Makes the Largest Single Gift in Its History with $1.5 Million Donation to Second Harvest Food Bank

WESTLAKE, Ohio --(Business Wire)--

The Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq: NDSN) Foundation today announced it is making the largest single donation in its history with a $1.5 million grant to Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. The gift will be paid in installments over the next five years and used as the lead donation for Second Harvest's capital campaign for construction of a new facility to better serve those in the region struggling with hunger.

Second Harvest is committed to gathering and providing resources to hunger-relief agencies serving individuals and families in Northern Ohio's Crawford, Erie, Huron and Lorain counties. Nordson Corporation was founded in Lorain County in 1954 and continues to operate a large campus there today in the city of Amherst.

"The Foundation's board of directors unanimously and energetically made the decision to make the lead gift in the capital campaign for Second Harvest's new facility," said Cecilia Render, Executive Director of the Nordson Corporation Foundation. "Nordson and the Second Harvest Food Bank have a long history of partnership. The agency offers a strong support system for those in need in our community and we want to ensure they have the capacity to continue to meet those needs."

"As a long-time partner of Second Harvest, Nordson Corporation and its employees have volunteered their time, talent and financial resources to addressing hunger in North Central Ohio for many years," said Juliana Chase-Morefield, Executive Director of Second Harvest. "Our planned new facility will increase our capacity to serve our network of hunger-relief agencies throughout the region. As we turned to the community for support of this project, Nordson was the very first to step forward and has truly overwhelmed us with its generosity and commitment. We hope the confidence Nordson is showing in our organization will inspire other potential supporters to help us address the critical issue of hunger in our region. Together, we can have an extraordinary impact in helping hungry children develop and learn, in providing healthy and nutritiou meals to families, and in aiding seniors whose shrinking incomes often dictate tough decisions between paying for food, medicine or utilities."

The Nordson Foundation has supported Second Harvest since its beginning in 1982. At that time, Nordson provided an initial grant to create the first food bank in Lorain County, then known as the County Cupboard, in response to a local recession that created an enormous need for emergency assistance. As the need to provide assistance in the area grew, the agency expanded to serve four counties and became known as Second Harvest Food Bank. In addition to financial support, Nordson Corporation employees have donated countless hours to the agency for almost 20 years by assisting with food sorting through the company's Time 'n Talent volunteer program.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, Second Harvest distributed 7.5 million pounds of food and grocery products. These distributions supported 104 member agencies, including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, Back Pack programs, Kids Café, farmers markets and other supplemental programs. With over 19% of children under the age of 18 living in poverty in the four counties Second Harvest serves, the need for support is greater than ever. The Nordson Corporation Foundation strongly focuses on programs dedicated to the educational development of children. By helping to alleviate hunger through support of Second Harvest, Nordson is directly increasing the ability of children to learn, develop and prosper.

Nordson Corporation delivers precision technology solutions that help customers succeed worldwide. The company engineers, manufactures and markets differentiated products and systems used for precision dispensing of adhesives, coatings, sealants, biomaterials, fluids and other materials, plastic extrusion and injection molding, electronics testing and inspecting, and surface preparation, all supported by application expertise and direct global sales and service. Nordson serves a wide variety of consumer non-durable, durable and technology end markets including packaging, nonwovens, electronics, medical, appliances, energy, transportation, construction, and general product assembly and finishing. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, the company has operations and support offices in more than 30 countries. Visit Nordson on the web at www.nordson.com, http://www.twitter.com/Nordson_Corp or www.facebook.com/nordson.