Feel Good Friday - Equal Justice Initiative

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a time to honor Dr. King's legacy of fighting for racial and economic justice through service and action. That makes this a perfect Friday to spotlight the Equal Justice Initiative.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, the mission of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is "ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, challenging racial and economic injustice, and protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society."

EJI operates as a nonprofit law firm providing legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons. Under founder and Executive Director Bryan Stevenson's leadership, EJI has secured relief, release, or reduced sentences for over 140 people on death row. Their work has resulted in landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings, including a 2012 decision that banned mandatory life-imprisonment-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger, a ruling that impacted thousands of cases nationwide.

Beyond the courtroom, EJI challenges the narrative about race in America through groundbreaking research and public education. In April 2018, they opened the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery—powerful spaces that trace the arc from slavery through lynching and segregation to mass incarceration. These Legacy Sites have attracted over 650,000 visitors from around the world. EJI also produces an award-winning wall calendar, A History of Racial Injustice, that features a different historical event each day.

Their anti-poverty work includes a Hunger Relief program that has served thousands of families struggling with food insecurity and a health clinic that provides free care to vulnerable people.

If you'd like to support the Equal Justice Initiative, there are many ways to do so. You can visit the Legacy Sites the next time you’re in Montgomery, Alabama, make a donation, and amplify their message on social media. Follow EJI on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube and share their stories of justice and redemption with your network.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! 

Feel Good Friday - California Association of Food Banks

As Thanksgiving approaches and many of us are preparing to spend time with family, friends, and food, I want to highlight an organization focused on food insecurity, the California Association of Food Banks.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Oakland, California, the mission of the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) is “to end hunger in California”.

According to information on their website, although California produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, over 5 million people in Californian face hunger on a daily basis. One out of every four of those people is a child. The team at CAFB believes that “having enough to eat is a basic human right, and that ending hunger in our state is both essential and possible.” Here’s what they’re doing about it.

CAFB works with a network of 41 member food banks around the state to build their capacity and make them more effective. They also provide more than 200+ million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables which is recovered from California’s fields, transported to the member food banks, and distributed to people in need. Details about this program are in this 3-minute Farm to Family video. 

Another area of their work is connecting people to the state’s food stamp program, CalFresh. Only 70% of eligible households get CalFresh, meaning 2 million qualified people are not receiving these nutrition benefits. CAFB partners help nearly 30,000 households apply for CalFresh benefits every year.

CAFB also improves public policy around food bank support, disaster resilience, child nutrition, CalFresh, food waste and poverty. Their legislative partners work to pass state bills and secure state funding that will help to end hunger and alleviate poverty in California. Finally, there are special initiatives such as improving food access for farm workers and preparing for and responding to disasters such as wildfires.

If you’d like to help the California Association of Food Banks achieve their vision of “a well-nourished and hunger-free California, where all people have enough food to lead a healthy life”, there are many ways to do so. Volunteer at one of the member food banks, make a donation, and amplify their work on social media. Like the CAFB Facebook page and follow them on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Feel Good Friday - SPOON

For many people in the United States, the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday means friends, family and food. It’s a good time to reflect on what you’re grateful for, and it’s also a good time to highlight an organization focused on child nutrition, SPOON.

Established in 2007 by Cindy Kaplan and Mishelle Rudzinski and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, SPOON’s mission is “to nourish children who are highly vulnerable to malnutrition by empowering their caregivers around the globe.” 

Their work is focused on children with disabilities, and those living outside of family care because these children are much more likely to experience malnutrition than their peers. SPOON approaches this issue in three ways which you can learn about in this short video or by continuing to read below. 

The first step is training for caregivers such as community health workers, nurses and social workers. Topics include nutrition, feeding and disabilities. This training has been provided across 17 countries and there are also self-paced, online courses available to help the program scale.

Once training has been completed, the caregivers can access a digital health app called Count Me In. The app includes educational content and assessment tools. It helps service providers track mealtime, growth, and anemia for children in their care and makes recommendations for intervention when needed. 

Finally, data from SPOON’s work around the world is shared with their partners and used to advocate for inclusive polices, services and investments for all children.

The impact of this work is impressive. Last year, SPOON trained 352 people in 8 countries, who worked with over 13,000 children. For children being monitored with the Count Me In app, 35% saw an improvement in growth, 40% had a drop in anemia rates, and 82% experienced improvement in rates of safe feeding positions.

If you’d like to help SPOON increase their impact around the world, there are many ways to do so. Volunteer your time, donate your money and share their message on social media. Follow SPOON on Facebook and on Instagram @spoonfoundation.

Feel Good Friday - City Harvest

Thanksgiving is next week and I’ve got food and family on my mind. That’s why I want to spend today’s Feel Good Friday talking about an organization dedicated to feeding hungry New Yorkers, City Harvest.

Founded in 1982, the mission of City Harvest is “to end hunger in communities throughout New York City.” They do this through food rescue and distribution, education, and other innovative solutions. This one-minute video gives a great overview.

Before we talk about the work, let’s talk about hunger in New York City. According to statistics on the City Harvest website, 1.5 million New Yorkers are struggling to feed themselves right now, including one in four children. Food insecurity has surged 36% since the beginning of the pandemic. 

This is where City Harvest comes in. Every day they have a fleet of 26 refrigerated trucks on the road, rescuing 300,000 pounds of nutritious food from donors such as farms, restaurants, grocers, and manufacturers. This food is then delivered to hundreds of soup kitchens, food pantries and other community partners in all five boroughs across New York City. To date, City Harvest has rescued and delivered more than 1 billion pounds of free food!

Nutrition education programs are focused on teaching people how to prepare delicious, nutritious meals and shop for healthy foods on a budget. While in-person workshops are still on hold, you can sign up for a virtual class or access recipes and video tutorials here.

Additional programs include: Mobile Markets, where community members gather in farmer’s market settings to receive fresh produce and participate in cooking demonstrations; Healthy Retail, which helps corner stores increase fruit and vegetable sales; and Plentiful, a mobile app available in nine languages that people use to locate food pantries near them and make reservations to pick up food without waiting in lines.

If you like what City Harvest is doing to feed New Yorkers, help them out by supporting their work. If you live in New York City you can volunteer your time. The rest of us can make a donation and amplify their message on social media. Like the City Harvest Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @CityHarvest (while it still exists) and Instagram @cityharvestnyc. #WeAreCityHarvest 

Feel Good Friday - Masbia Soup Kitchen Network

Today’s Feel Good Friday falls during Hanukkah, so we’re highlighting a group that’s raising money to feed 3,000 families in need this Hanukkah season, the Masbia Soup Kitchen Network. 

Founded in 2005, Masbia is a nonprofit soup kitchen network and food pantry located in New York. It’s Brooklyn’s first and only kosher soup kitchen! 
 
The vision of the founders was “a clean, well-lit and attractive place where poor men, women, and children could eat nourishing kosher meals daily for free.” The first location was a restaurant-style environment with volunteer waiters serving people their meals. 
 
Since then, Masbia has expanded beyond the original soup kitchen to include three additional locations with both a dine-in option and a food pantry. Here, through their weekend take-home package program, they give out bags of much-needed groceries every week to those with not enough food at home.
 
The team at Masbia has seen a 500% increase in demand since the start of the pandemic. They are now distributing food to 1,500 families each day, which comes to 2 million meals a year! You can watch a recent news story about Masbia providing food for Thanksgiving at this link.
 
If you live in New York and want to support the work of Masbia you can volunteer. The rest of us can make a donation and amplify their work on social media by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter@Masbia.

Feel Good Friday - Meals on Wheels America

With Thanksgiving coming up next Thursday, food and family is on my mind. That’s why I want to spend today’s Feel Good Friday talking about an organization that delivers food to senior citizens, Meals on Wheels America.

Founded in 1974, the mission of Meals on Wheels America is “to empower local community programs to improve the health and quality of life of the seniors they serve so that no one is left hungry or isolated.” It is the oldest and largest national organization supporting over 5,000 community-based, senior nutrition programs across the country. Meals on Wheels America provides these local organizations with funding, leadership, education, research and advocacy support.

The problem Meals on Wheels America is addressing is explained on their website. “Nearly 7.4 million seniors have incomes below the poverty line” and “nearly 9.7 million seniors were threatened by hunger.” That’s why millions of volunteers deliver 221 million meals to 2.4 million seniors every year! Locally supported programs also manage what are called congregate nutrition sites – think senior centers. That allows more mobile seniors the opportunity to socialize during their meal.

You can find additional statistics and impacts of the meal deliveries on this page. One that I found eye-opening is the fact that “2 out of 3 recipients report the meals make up half or more of all food eaten that day”.

In addition to delivering meals, and helping combat social isolation, volunteers conduct safety checks around the house when they visit. They also look for changes in their clients’ physical or mental health that might impact future medical needs so they can be addressed before they become catastrophic and costly health issues.

If you know of someone who would benefit by participating in the program you can use this link to find a provider. If you’d like to volunteer, go to this link to learn more. There you can watch videos of volunteers with their seniors and sign up to volunteer.

You can also support Meals on Wheels America with a donation and by amplifying their work on social media. Like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @_MealsOnWheels and Instagram@mealsonwheelsamerica.
Happy Thanksgiving! 

Feel Good Friday - The Hunger Project

The Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. makes me grateful for friends, family and food. It’s also a reminder that this is a great time to highlight an organization fighting hunger. That why today’s Feel Good Friday is focused on The Hunger Project.

 

Founded in 1977, The Hunger Project (THP) is “a global, non-profit, strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger.” They work in 23 countries on a mission “to end hunger and poverty by pioneering sustainable, grassroots, women-centered strategies and advocating for their widespread adoption in countries throughout the world.”

 

Of the 690 million people around the world chronically undernourished, 60% of them are women and girls. That’s why all of THP’s programs are built on the same three pillars:

 

1.     Start with women

2.     Mobilize communities

3.     Engage local government

 

The foundation of their work is Vision, Commitment, and Action workshops that take place at the village-level. Here people create their own vision for the future and commit to a 3-month project that uses local resources to achieve the vision. THP provides these leaders with skills trainings in literacy, numeracy, nutrition and local laws. Then they organize people into self-help groups so they have a stronger voice. Finally, THP partners with local governments to hold them accountable to the people and to lobby for state and national law changes.

 

The work doesn't stop there. While the name of this organization is The Hunger Project, they recognize that “ending hunger starts with people.” That’s why they have programs that address: hunger, poverty, gender equality, environment, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, local democracy, empowering girls, education, self-reliance and social cohesion. Whether that’s providing women with access to microfinance, preventing electoral violence in Bangladesh or promoting sustainable farming practices, all of these programs rely on an innovative, holistic approach that meets local challenges and opportunities.

 

The work of The Hunger Project reaches 16.5 million people worldwide in 13,600 active communities. There are 464,000 women participating in leadership trainings and the ripple effect of their work reaches into their families and communities. Read details on THP’s impact here.

 

If you would like to make your own impact by supporting the programs of The Hunger Project, you can do that with a donation and by amplifying their work on social media. Like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @HungerProject.

 

I wish you and yours a happy, healthy and safe Thanksgiving.

Feel Good Friday - Alameda Food Bank

Thanksgiving is less that a week away and I've got food-related organizations on my mind. That's why I'm focusing today's Feel Good Friday on one close to home, the Alameda Food Bank.

The website explains their history and mission: "Founded in 1977, the Alameda Food Bank is a non-profit organization that helps Alameda residents in need by providing nourishing food in a compassionate and respectful manner with the support of dedicated volunteers and local partners."

In the 30+ years the Alameda Food Bank has existed, it's gone from 2 volunteers serving 35 recipients a month to over 160 volunteers serving 5,000 people a year! That's 7% of the island's residents. If you live in Alameda and need food assistance, you can read up on the eligibility requirements and food bank locations here.

The Alameda Food Bank volunteers work hard to distribute more than 1.3 million pounds of food on an annual basis. Over 900,000 pounds of that food comes from community partners, such as local grocery stores and community gardens across the island.

Volunteer opportunities include picking up donations from community partners, helping clients shop for their shelf stable and produce items or washing and sorting donations. You can find out more and sign up here. If you need convincing, watch this video of volunteers explaining what they love about the time they spend volunteering.

If you don't have the time to volunteer but still want to support the Alameda Food Bank, you can drop off a turkey for the 2019 Turkey Drive or make a donation of food or cash. Stay in the loop year-round and promote their work on social media by liking their Facebook page.

Whether you spend it with family, friends or all of the above have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Feel Good Friday - No Kid Hungry

We're less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving, a U.S. holiday that people celebrate with family, friends and food. That's why today's Feel Good Friday is focused on an organization working to end childhood hunger, No Kid Hungry.

No Kid Hungry was launched in 2010 as a national campaign of the nonprofit organization Share Our Strength. Their promise is that "every single child in America has the food they need to grow up healthy and strong."

The No Kid Hungry website outlines some startling facts about hunger. More than 11 million children in the U.S. live in food insecure homes, meaning their families don't have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life. That's equivalent to 1 in 7 children.

No Kid Hungry has a variety of programs to tackle this problem.

Examples include:

• providing guidance to educators on maximizing healthy school breakfast programs so that every child gets the nutrition they need
• working with local organizations to launch and operate free summer meal programs and funding mobile meals trucks
• helping schools secure resources for after school meal programs
• teaching parents and caregivers how to shop for and cook healthy, affordable meals
• researching the issue of child hunger and sharing resources and best practices
• advocating with government agencies to strengthen programs for children's nutrition

Since they started in 2010, No Kid Hungry has provided over 1 billion (yes billion) meals!

If you want to be a part of the solution, and have something to talk about with these celebrity supporters, there are many ways to get involved: donate, attend a fundraising event, or contact your representative and advocate for kids! As always, share the social media love by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @nokidhungry.

Feel Good Friday - Feeding America

I hope this Feel Good Friday comes as part of a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend for you. With much of the focus of this holiday on both family and food, I want to highlight an organization that is Feeding America.

As succinctly explained on Twitter, Feeding America is a "nation-wide hunger relief charity helping more than 46 million Americans yearly including 12 million children and 7 million seniors." You can read some statistics on hunger here. The quick story is that 72 billion pounds of edible food goes to waste each year in the U.S. while 1 in 8 Americans struggle with hunger.

Feeding America came about in 1979 when Van Hengel, who established a food bank in Arizona in the 1960s, created a national organization for food banks called Second Harvest. The name was changed to Feeding America in 2008 to reflect the mission of the organization and it's since grown into a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs across the country.

Here's how it works. "Feeding America secures donations from national food and grocery manufacturers, retailers, shippers, packers and growers and from government agencies and other organizations." The food is shipped to and stored at food banks across the country who distribute it through pantries and meal programs like the SF-Marin Food Bank. There are also a variety of programs such as Disaster Food Assistance, a Backpack Program and a Senior Grocery Program, all of which you can read about here.

Last year, with their partners, Feeding America provided food for 4 billion people! To see what this looks like in action, watch this short video. When not distributing food, Feeding America also raises public awareness about hunger, conducts research and has policy staff in Washington DC to advocate for programs that protect people from hunger.

To support their work you can take action by becoming a volunteer, an advocate, or donating some cash. You can also show your appreciation by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @FeedingAmerica. "Together we can solve hunger".

Feel Good Friday - Rise Against Hunger

I learned about today's Feel Good Friday organization, Rise Against Hunger, when my office had a volunteer event last week packaging meals. Here's what I know.

"Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world's most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030." That summary from their website gives the basic details but you may wonder, why hunger?

The short answer is that 792.5 million people in the world don't get enough food and nutrition to lead active, healthy lives. This video from the UN explains how ending poverty and hunger will help people around the world live up to their full potential.

So, what role does Rise Against Hunger play? They've packaged over 300 million meals since 1998 and distributed them in 74 different countries. Last year alone 376,000 volunteers packed meals for over 1,000,000 people! Most of these meals are delivered to schools, and Rise Against Hunger uses distribution partners who are focused on promoting education and improving student's health and nutrition.

This two-minute mission video shows you what it's like to volunteer and who is at the receiving end of the food. Rise Against Hunger also works with a network of in-country partners to provide crisis relief and income-generating agricultural initiatives. You can learn more here.


If this sounds good, you can get involved by hosting a meal packing event, volunteering at one of their worldwide locations or donating money. You can also spread the word by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @Rise2030.

I had a good time volunteering with Rise Against Hunger (at least half of my face did) and you can too!

Feel Good Friday - Touch*A*Life

We spent last Feel Good Friday in San Francisco, California. So, in an effort to provide variety, today we go to Siem Reap, Cambodia!

Touch*A*Life is, as stated on their website, "an international humanitarian organization that embodies the principle of loving kindness to serve the world's poor and displaced." The organization was started in 2004 by Mavis Ching after being inspired by a man in Indonesia who had been feeding the poor for over 30 years. You can read more about her and TAL's beginnings here.

While Touch*A*Life keeps some basic medical supplies on hand to distribute and connects people with other aid organizations, the main program of TAL is their Free Meal Program. From the first batch of 52 egg sandwiches, they now serve almost 6000 vegetarian meals a month to people living in and around Siem Reap. The program is "driven by the belief that people in need deserve, and would welcome, a helping hand that also lifts their spirit."

In this 3:24 minute video, Mavis explains the origins of TAL and you can see many of the children and volunteers involved with the program. If you are planning a trip to Cambodia, you too can be a volunteer! If Angkor Wat is not in your future, you can support the children of the area with a donation.

There are lots of photos posted on the website and you'll find the most current ones by liking the Touch*A*Life Facebook page.

Feel Good Friday - Free Rice

It's Feel Good Friday and you want to relax by playing a game on your phone. I get it. Today, instead of crushing candy, connecting dots or killing zombies with bok choy, may I suggest Free Rice?

Free Rice is an online trivia game with a twist. As they explain, "For each answer you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme to help end hunger." Their goals are to "provide education to everyone for free" and to "help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free."

Topics include humanities, math, language learning, sciences, English, chemistry, geography and SAT prep. The categories can be challenging if you pick the right one and, thanks to the sponsors who advertise on the site, every correct answer translates to a donation of 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme (WFP)! Want to learn more about the WFP so you can feel good about wasting time playing games? Of course you do.

"The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency on the front lines against hunger." (You can tell it's an international organization because the of the extra "me" in program.) As stated on their website, "The World Food Programme's mission is to save lives and livelihoods, and to improve the nutrition, food security and self-reliance of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people."

Their work involves responding to emergencies, preventing hunger by distributing school meals and meals to people living with HIV and AIDS as well as promoting women's empowerment "as a key to improving food security for all." They work all around the world and in 2015, 76.7 million people in 81 countries were assisted directly by WFP. Of all these people, 82% were women and children.

You can read more info from their year in review here or browse their collection of stories. They really are living up to their motto of "fighting hunger worldwide".

To support the work of WFP, you can make a direct donation then stay in the loop by liking both the Free Rice Facebook page and the World Food Programme Facebook page. In addition, you can also follow both groups on Twitter @Freerice and @WFP respectively.

While I encourage you to do all of the above, I admit that the most fun way to fight hunger around the world is by going to Free Rice and answering trivia questions. You'll be surprised just how quickly you can put together a bowl of rice. Now get out there and rice up!

Feel Good Friday - SF-Marin Food Bank

Happy Feel Good Friday!

I hope everyone enjoyed Feel Good Thursday yesterday, more traditionally known as Thanksgiving. In between your free trips to the park or the stores today, take a moment to learn about the year-round work done by Feel Good Friday subject, the SF-Marin Food Bank.

At a time of year when most of us come together to eat and celebrate, it's easy to forget that "one in four residents faces the threat of hunger each day". Therefore, the mission of the Food Bank, as stated on their website, "is to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin."

Statics show they're having a huge impact. 25,000 volunteers each year help distribute over 47 million pounds of food to the community, 60% of which is farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. That's over 147,000 people served per week!

They have programs focused on children, seniors, and helping people access California's food stamp program. 70% of the food they collect goes to supply other organizations you know like Glide, St. Anthony's and Project Open Hand. 

If you want to support the work they do, there are many ways to give your money. You'll be happy to know that 96% of donated resources go directly into programs, meaning "for every $1 you donate, we can distribute $5 worth of food." You can also donate food or your time. 

Learn more about their work by watching short videos and stay in the loop by liking their Facebook page or following them on Twitter @SFMFoodBank. The rush for Thanksgiving turkeys is over, but the need for food still exists. I'm grateful to the SF-Marin Food Bank for helping to meet that need. #FeelGoodFriday

Feel Good Friday - Lovin' Spoonfuls

Last August, Feel Good Friday introduced you to the Food Recovery Network at the University of Maryland. Today, we're taking it from college campuses to the grocery stores near you! Well, near you if you live in Boston.

"Lovin' Spoonfuls is an organization that facilitates the recovery and distribution of healthy, perishable food that would otherwise be discarded. Lovin' Spoonfuls works efficiently to deliver this food directly to the community organizations and resources where it can have the greatest impact."

As they explain on their website, in the United States we throw away 40% of our food while 49 million people in the country go hungry. Ashley Stanley experienced this first hand one day when she saw produce in the back room of a supermarket that was going to be thrown away. She put it in her car and drove it to a homeless shelter and that gave her the idea to create Lovin' Spoonfuls in 2010. 

Now in 2014, they have 3 refrigerated vehicles on the road collecting food from such partners as Whole Food's and Trader Joe's.  Since their inception they've distributed 1.3 million pounds of rescued food in the Boston area!

To learn more, read this Christian Science Monitor article, watch a short video on their mission page and meet some of the people involved or like their Facebook page to stay in the loop.

Feel Good Friday - Hunger 2 Help

The last few Feel Good Fridays have focused on work being done by adults so today we shine the spotlight on some kids - the Burrito Boyz from Hunger 2 Help.

This group in San Diego, California began in November, 2010 after Michael and Mehrnaz Johnson got their son Alec's very long list of items he wanted for Christmas and decided to give him some much needed perspective. As stated on their website, "Not only were they hoping to teach their son and his friends not to take things for granted, they wanted to DO something to help others.  After just their first Sunday downtown serving 54 hot breakfast burritos and bottles of water, the group knew they had started something special."

There are now 7 burrito boyz and a Girl Scout troupe that make and serve burritos to the homeless every Sunday - so far that's 149 Sundays and over 40,000 meals! 

Their mission is to help nourish the spirit of the street homeless of San Diego by providing hot food and comfort. Well, FGF says, mission accomplished!

To learn more, you can watch a video from CBS news on their website or like their Facebook page.

As for me, I'm off to find a breakfast burrito. Mmmm, burrito.