Hunger Relief

​The extent of hunger in America is no surprise to Matt Knott, president of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. With its network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, it provides hunger relief to more than 46 million Americans.

With one out of every six children in the United States living with hunger each day, young people are leading the fight to end child hunger to make sure their peers have access to healthy meals. To celebrate the role of young people in addressing this critical issue, Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation and Generation No Kid Hungry proclaim February 21 National Youth Day.

Today, Smithfield Foods, Inc. and WinCo Foods joined forces to donate more than 42,000 pounds of protein to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Smithfield’s contribution was part of the company’s 2019 Helping Hungry Homes® donation tour.

“Every day, the babies in our community are having adult experiences.”

I’ll never forget listening to a community gardener talk about the challenges facing young children in his east-side neighborhood. Violence, drugs, poverty, absent parents, hunger. It was heartbreaking. The conversation started when another community garden leader explained that a portion of our ScottsMiracle-Gro grant was used to purchase pairs of cheap, plastic flip flops.

Why? I asked.

Sysco proudly serves as co-presenting sponsor of Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry – one of the country’s premier culinary events. Each year, this ultimate foodie event brings together top chefs, sommeliers and mixologists in 20 cities across the nation, all with one goal in mind: to raise funds and awareness to end childhood hunger in America. Attendees can sip and sample gourmet creations from each host city’s foremost culinary talent and participate in truly unique food, travel and lifestyle auctions – all while raising funds for No Kid Hungry.

Had you stopped by Atlanta’s Trinity Towers on the morning of Nov. 28, you’d have found precious little evidence of what was about to take place. Until noon, the senior residence’s activity room and adjoining kitchen were still, awaiting the arrival of a bevy of volunteers from Hormel Foods and Goodr.

Then the midday magic began to unfold. In came a truckload of food from Kroger and other purveyors, as well as can after can of Dinty Moore® beef stew. Workers began buzzing about, creating a popup grocery store of well-organized (and picture-perfect) presentations of fresh produce, bacon, roasts and other food items. Those in the kitchen went about the task of ladling beef stew into stockpots and slow-cookers, a treat for the seniors, not to mention the reason for the event.

From food deserts and poor nutrition, to childhood obesity and nature deficit, the lack of access to gardens and greenspaces is impacting today’s children. To help find a solution to this issue, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is partnering with leading not-for-profit organizations and other partners across the United States as part of its Gro More Good initiative to combat pressing challenges facing today’s youth, improving children’s access to fresh food and increasing their time spent outdoors connected to nature.

Big impacts require big commitments. That’s why Sysco is making a significant investment in communities – with a special emphasis on hunger. We’re also doing more to expand opportunity for our associates and our suppliers, and increasing the availability of healthy products that reach the tables of millions of diners each day.

People are the essential ingredient of our success. Fostering opportunity for our customers, associates, and suppliers, keeping our associates safe and healthy, and supporting the well-being of children, families, and the communities we call home, lie at the heart of our belief in what a better tomorrow can be.

Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation announced today that it will offer grants totaling $ 40,000 to The Capital Area Food Bank and to Manna Food Center (Manna), two not-for-profit organizations. The grants will support efforts by those organizations to make nutritious food accessible to those in need. Due to the partial government shutdown, more families needed food assistance and food banks, nonprofits and community leaders were attempting to fill the gap.