Fighting Poverty

Whole Cities Foundation, a nonprofit established by Whole Foods Market in 2014, partners with U.S. neighborhood efforts to build thriving local food systems and grow community health. The foundation collaborates with community-led initiatives to broaden access to fresh, healthy food and high quality nutrition education.

Today, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) announced the launch of Original HP ink cartridges made with plastic from bottles recycled in Haiti. Made possible through close partnership with Thread and the First Mile Coalition, this launch exemplifies HP’s efforts to reinvent how products are designed, manufactured, used and recovered in the shift toward a circular and low-carbon economy.

Keeping an eye on the future, GRI’s second annual donors meeting in Amsterdam focused on the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in emerging markets. In a day-long exchange of experiential knowledge and insights, GRI’s country managers and directors located in Africa, South America and Asia, interacted directly with our government funders from Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK) on the potential of reporting as a driver for transparent and sustainable value chains.

Learn why Cargill Cares has built more than 75 community schools in Vietnam, providing a strong foundation for thousands of Vietnamese students to change their lives through education and build a bright future.

Businesses have an important role to play in eradicating poverty and supporting sustainable development. The benefit is mutual – stronger economies and stable societies create vast opportunities for growth in new markets. The publication presents vital findings, such as the need for companies to move beyond philanthropy and community engagement, towards strategies with large-scale impacts.

In February, we visited our microfinance partner Fonkoze in Haiti. The team visited the southwestern peninsula – the area hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew. Having visited the area three months after the hurricane, we were able to see operations beginning to normalize at the community level and branch level. Most of the clients we met were not able to resume activities until after they were able to recapitalize their existing loan. We see this as yet another good example of where Whole Planet Foundation’s funding can have an invaluable impact and support long term reconstruction after natural disasters.

The General Mills Foundation announced a two-year, $500,000 grant to the World Food Program last month to advance a pilot program to fortify rice and other staples served daily at the mid-day meal in India to nearly 140,000 school children.

In this episode of the Champions for Social Good Podcast, Jamie Serino speaks with Matt Klein, Executive Director of the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, an organization that fights the cycle of poverty in New York City through innovative programs that build human capital and improve financial security.

That’s what wide-eyed Andrew asked after his first meal at a No Kid Hungry supported summer meals site in Baltimore. When a volunteer assured him that, yes, they’d be back at the same time the next day, Andrew looked up into the volunteer’s eyes while lifting up his pinky and asked, “Pinky swear?”