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Since 2018, the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation has directed more than $30 million to organizations, innovators and changemakers across the country to address a fundamental absurdity in our food system: 35% of food produced in the U.S. is thrown away, yet 42 million Americans struggle with hunger. Through innovation, collaboration and community engagement, we’re committed to our mission of creating communities free of hunger and waste.

Family-to-Family, Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit 501(c)(3) hunger and poverty relief organization dedicated to providing food, personal hygiene products and other basic life essentials to American families struggling with the challenges of poverty. By connecting donors one-to-one with specific families in need, family-to-family’s mission is to bring a large and seemingly intractable problem – poverty – into personal focus, making proactive, attainable results possible…one family at a time.

Plant It Forward (PIF)’s mission is to train and support refugees to operate urban farms businesses throughout Houston. Plant It Forward builds a greener Houston by: growing fresh, local, pesticide-free vegetables and fruit; giving our farmers an opportunity to build a self-sustaining, free market enterprise in America for themselves and their families; and building our community by integrating our farms into neighborhoods. Our vision is a farm in every neighborhood, operated by people achieving the American Dream.

Too often grocery stores and restaurants find themselves throwing out food, when there is great need in nearby communities. MEANS Database modernizes food recovery in 48 states and the District of Columbia by connecting excess food to organizations and individuals who need it. Hunger lingers in the lives of the people it affects. In infants and toddlers, food insecurity is associated with failure to thrive, a devastating condition with consequences into adulthood (1). In early childhood, hunger is associated with diminished academic progress, more behavioral problems and unhealthy weight (2). By high school, it's linked with dropping out, and by early adulthood, with having children who also face hunger, the cycle starts over again (3). Food insecurity exists in every American demographic and geography, affecting every population tracked by the US Census. However, as it seems for every other social ill, the most rural, the most urban, and minorities in any location bear a disproportionate burden of the weight of hunger. While 12.7% of American families are food insecure, the rate for Black and Latino families are each about 20% (4). Jefferson County, Mississippi, is a study in these disparities: it has the highest percentage of black residents of any American county, and also holds the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of food insecurity in the United States, with nearly 38% of residents facing hunger (5). Meanwhile, while more than 42 million Americans rely on food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency food providers to feed their families, the United States grapples with an massive food waste problem. Forty percent of the American food supply ends up in landfills, with perfectly edible meals being thrown away at all stages of production (7). Food is the single largest contributor to landfill and incinerator mass in the United States, choking the nation's air while 1 in 8 Americans face food insecurity (8). Further complicating this feast and famine dynamic is the uncomfortable truth that even programs meant to address hunger frequently end up wasting food. The issue we are tackling with MEANS is huge: we're trying to prevent food waste and adequately address the problem of hunger. The USDA reports that 48.1 million Americans live in food-insecure households, while Feeding America says that 70 billion pounds of food are wasted in the US each year (8). This task may seem daunting, but we know that through the use of innovative technology like ours, we can help to change the future of food recovery. MEANS (Matching Excess And Need for Stability) is an online communications platform for emergency food providers and their donors. On a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, agencies create an account with MEANS, registering their contact information, location, the kind(s) of foods they are searching for, and the distance they are willing or able to travel to pick up those goods. Donors post their excess goods on MEANS, and the system emails and/or texts organizations nearby that need those goods. Our tool substantially reduces the communications gap between emergency food providers and their donors, preventing "donation dumping" on both sides. MEANS was designed to handle both traditional food donations, from grocery stores or caterers, and donations between emergency food providers. There is no charge for any of our organization's services, for nonprofit agencies or retailers. Citations: 1) Kersten, Hans B. and Bennett, David (2012) "A Multidisciplinary Team Experience with Food Insecurity & Failure to Thrive," Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6. 2) Jyoti, Diana F.; Frongillo, Edward A.; and Jones, Sonya J. (2005) "Food Insecurity Affects School Children's Academic Performance, Weight Gain, and Social Skills" The Journal of Nutrition vol. 135 no. 12 2831-2839. 3)"Changing the Picture of Education in America: Communities in Schools Spring 2014 Impact Report" (2014) 4) USDA (2015). "Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2015" 5) Feeding America (2016). "Map the Meal Gap 2016" 7) Gunders, Dana (2012). "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" 8) Feeding America (ND), "Food Waste In America"

Waste Not Want Not exists to prevent the discarding of items that can be used to fight hunger and poverty in our community. We do this by rescuing food daily from numerous sources for distribution to load charitable organizations, and through other cost-effective, volunteer-driven initiatives.Every year, one-quarter of the food produced in America is thrown away before it reaches a consumer. While we, as a nation, annually discard 27 million tons of wholesome food, more than 38 million Americans suffer from food insecurity. Waste Not Waste Not is the smart response to this disconnect between abundance and need.

Founded by Apple Distinguished Educator and Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainer Daphne Bradford, Mother of Many (M.O.M. http://www.motherofmany.com) is a grassroots nonprofit using technology and healthy eating programs to keep high school students engaged in school and gain workplace skills. Serving Los Angeles’ lowest performing inner city schools such as Locke, Crenshaw and Dorsey high schools in South Los Angeles—M.O.M. aims to “bridge the digital and STEM career divide” in order to close the achievement gap in neighborhoods where African American and Latino students have little access to technology and fresh foods.

Founded in 1987, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) is the nonprofit foundation of the National Restaurant Association, the largest foodservice trade association in the world, representing and supporting over 500,000 businesses. NRAEF’s mission is to attract, empower, and advance the nation's workforce. Ultimately, NRAEF transforms lives by creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to pursue: • First jobs - of the 157M Americans in the workforce, one in three had their first job in a restaurant; • Second chances - restaurant and foodservice operations do not require a high school diploma, GED, licensure, or certification to engage in employment; and • Meaningful careers - few industries offer more accessible paths to family-sustaining wages, upw

SisterSong’s mission is to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of indigenous women and women of color to achieve Reproductive Justice (RJ) by eradicating reproductive oppression and securing human rights. RJ is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, choose when and how to have children or not, and parent in safety with adequate resources. RJ centers the needs and leadership of the most marginalized and the intersections of oppressions. The first RJ organization founded to build the movement, SisterSong includes and represents Indigenous, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Arab and Middle Eastern, Latinx, and queer women and trans people. A top RJ thought leader, trainer, organizer, and collaboration facilitator, our focus is Southern and national.

Whitesbog Village is a historic company town and farm with 25 historic buildings, blueberry farm fields, cranberry bogs, hiking trails, reservoirs, streams, a picnic grove and the Elizabeth White Gardens. In the early 1900’s, Whitesbog was the largest cranberry farm in New Jersey and its founder, Joseph J. White, was a nationally recognized leader in the cranberry industry. In 1916, Elizabeth C. White collaborated with Dr. Frederick A. Coville of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and successfully developed the first cultivated blueberry here at Whitesbog. Elizabeth developed a nursery here, built her home, Suningive and her gardens of native Pine Barrens plants. Our mission is to restore, protect and enhance historic Whitesbog Village, and to preserve and interpret the White family legacy, inspiring audiences of all ages to experience the origins and past innovations of cranberry and blueberry culture and the rich and unique ecology of the NJ Pine Barrens.

Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) was created in 2001 in response to the HIV crisis in western Kenya. It is built on a partnership between Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Moi University School of Medicine in Eldoret, Kenya, and a consortium of North American academic health centers, led by Indiana University. The partners joined forces to create one of Africa's largest, most comprehensive and effective HIV/AIDS management and control systems. AMPATH is a formal partner with the United States government through a $75 million grant from USAID and has continually expanded its successful HIV approach to into a more comprehensive primary health care system. With a tri-partite mission of care, education, and research, AMPATH provides healthcare services to a population of 3.5 million people in western Kenya and focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of the entire population-leaving no one behind.

Bududa Learning Center is an umbrella organization that includes a vocational high school, an orphans program for children, and a microfinance program for women. It is located in the isolated mountain district of eastern Uganda. It was founded by Canadian-born Barbara Wybar, who has been living on site a portion of each year for the past 14 years. This isolated region, one of the poorest in Uganda, is over-populated with most families having an average of 8 children. They live by growing their own food. Most of the region has no running water or electricity. Both the education and health care system are severely under-funded and inadequate. Jobs are scarce. Most people are hungry most of the time. How & Who We Help. We work to address the problems in three ways: 1. Training young people in basic trades: carpentry; brick-laying; dress-making and tailoring; nursery teacher training; computer skills training; and hairdressing training. 2. Providing broad support to 170 children and young people, many of them orphans from AIDS, by providing education enrichment, food, and health care. 3. Training and providing micro finance loans to single mothers and grandmothers in the region who are bringing up children on their own and have no means of support, so they can start small businesses. How It Is Run The Center is staffed by Ugandans working in a professional capacity. Barbara Wybar acts as Executive Director and works in a volunteer capacity. There is a growing volunteer contingent of people from the west who visit and do volunteer work there and others who take on management and administrative work in Canada and the US in a volunteer capacity. A guest house and annex provide housing for up to 12 visiting volunteers at a time. Local Oversight A local Advisory Board of the Center, led by Father Paul Buyela, provides oversight to the headmaster of the school and the directors of the two other programs. It is made up of representatives of the teachers, the parents, the regional education board, and the community as well as the executive director. The chairman is a highly respected educator as well as clerical leader in the region at large. Governance and Financial Support Bududa Canada Foundation provides governance to the Center and raises funds from individuals, foundations, and organizations to support the Center. It is incorporated in Canada holds charitable status from the Canadian Revenue Authority (#82535 8286 RR0001). There is a board directors of five people, three of whom are Canadian and two American. Financial support comes from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Officers & Board of Directors Sally Bongard (Toronto), Chairman and Secretary Scott Douglas (Connecticut) Cecily Lawson (Montreal) Lizette Gilday (Montreal), President Barbara Wybar (Philadelphia, Quebec, and Uganda), Treasurer

The Foodbank's mission is to provide highly nutritious food to the community's hungry citizens and to ensure that no individual go hungry, not even for a single day. 68% percent of the food recipients are hungry children, 19% are hungry seniors, and 13% to hungry adults. The Foodbank has been providing food to impoverished children, families, and seniors residing in Los Angeles County since 1975, with a dominate focus on the poorest of the poor neighborhoods including downtown Los Angeles, Compton, San Pedro, South Central, Watts, and North Long Beach. The Foodbank solicits wholesome donations of nutritious food from the food industry and channels these products to charitable community organizations supporting low income individuals. The Foodbank of Southern California is a principal front end food provider to hundreds of community-based agencies who feed the hungry children, families and seniors. The Foodbank aids community-based organizations who are independently be unable to handle the logistics of transportation, space and refrigeration. The Foodbank's network receives food for emergency and non-emergency food programs such as shelters for abused children and women, crises centers, day care centers for children and seniors, senior centers, emergency box programs, soup kitchens, and food pantries. The agency is a vital link in the continuum of care that facilitates the needs of low-income people in our community. There are over 700 community-based agencies in The Foodbank's network. The small agencies may each feed 20 to 50 people, 5 days a week, while the larger agencies may each feed up to 1,500 people, 1 to 5 days each week. Hunger exists in every corner of Los Angeles County, exacting a physical, psychological, social and economic to afflicted children, families, and seniors. Unfortunately, the demand for emergency food assistance in Los Angeles County has increased every year during The Foodbank's 35-year history. Despite the growth in provision of services, as a feeding agency, The Foodbank is faced with providing increased service delivery to more people than was ever anticipated. Meanwhile, there is a continuous decrease in the already limited government support to transport and distribute food to our disadvantaged constituency. Impoverished families typically have enough money for only one week worth of food for the entire month. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study found that an average American family spends 13 percent of their income on food. For a family of five, with an income of $22,000, after taxes, this would leave them with $178 for their monthly food budget. That's just a little more than a dollar a day per person. In contrast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's most conservative suggested food budget, The Thrifty Food Plan, proposes that a family of this size should be spending at least $149 a week on food. The Living Wage project, based out of Penn State University, believes that number should be even higher. According to their formula, a family of this size should have a weekly food budget of $172.