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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"

Fundacion Via Cocina is a community based project focused on improving the health and economic development of vulnerable women, youth and underprivileged in Medellin Colombia. With a personalized training and mentoring system sharing healthy food recipes, cooking techniques and applied financial planning and entrepreneurial small business fundamentals, we build a program for individuals and families based on their current reality, applying the training to objectives created with them, for them, in their own home. Additionally, we provide classes to individuals and groups who want to learn to cook healthy dishes with local ingredients for their families, transforming them into uncommon flavors that are low in fat, oil, salt and sugar-free. These activities look to decrease frequency and severity of non-communicable diseases in the communities, including obesity, diabetes and cholesterol.

Mission statement: To provide opportunities and promote ethnic cohesion through education. Our Aims: To deliver high quality, accessible educational programmes, both full time and part-time, to young people and children from the tea estates in the hill country of Sri Lanka; To effect social transformation in tea estate communities by highlighting the importance of community service, and instilling it as a core value in the youth through a series of practical programmes that develop their skills to give back to their communities; To improve youth employability and increase employment options outside the tea estates by facilitating the development of high-standard English language skills and professional skills; To facilitate the development of the emotional health of young people, enabling them to strengthen their positive coping strategies in order to with the complex societal issues that exist in their communities.

OBAT Helpers works for the welfare, support, and rehabilitation of displaced and stateless people by providing programs to alleviate the daily suffering and burdens of thousands of Urdu speaking people (known as "Biharis") who are stranded in makeshift camps in Bangladesh. OBAT Helpers implements projects in education and vocational training, self- empowerment through micro-financing, health care with clinics, drinking water, proper sewerage, and emergency relief projects. The Biharis have been stranded in Bangladesh since it achieved independence from Pakistan in 1971. Referred to as, astranded Pakistanis,a this community was supposed to be repatriated to Pakistan after the two countries separated but most of them could not due to political complications. They are presently citizens of nowhere, unclaimed by either country and marked by the UNHCR as refugees, yet deprived of the rights of refugees. They still live in the camps/slums that were supposed to serve as their temporary shelter forty years ago. This population is scattered across sixty-six camps which house around 300,000 people. Anyone visiting these camps would see a family of 7-10 people sharing a living space of 8x10 ft.; open sewers and overflowing drains; a single toilet or two for one hundred or so people; innocent six or seven year olds who should be in schools, working for a living; high-infant mortality rates due to absence of medical facilities; lack of clean drinking water; terrible or no sanitation facilities and nothing but abject poverty. OBAT Helpers is the only organization in North America which is committed to helping the Biharis to become self-reliant and empowered through proper education, health care and micro financing projects. OBAT started with providing help to one camp in 2004, and now, it is improving the lives of people in more than 30 out of the total 66 camps, after just six years. This is almost half of the total number of camps in Bangladesh.

The French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children is striving to realize a vital and ambitious vision: to be a leading institute of excellence and innovation in healthcare, research and education, providing exemplary, safe, comprehensive, accessible and sustainable services to Afghanistan and surrounding regions, while positively impacting the lives of patients and all others whom it serves. During this journey, the hospital is committed to: To provide exemplary quality and safe care to the patients To ensure accessibility of services, both physical and financial, such that needy patients are cared for with respect and dignity To develop new services in response to public needs and expectations as resources permit on an economically viable and sustainable basis To develop the institution into an academic centre that develops local and regional health human resources as leaders and leads to human resource sustainability To carry out programmes and assigned missions in a manner that would enhance the ability of the institute to move towards sustainability

Shirzanan works to expand access to sport for Muslim women and girls worldwide. We use sports and media to catalyze discussion and advancements in women's rights and gender equality. We produce and disseminate stories - particularly to populations whose governments limit free information and women's rights. Shirzanan is the Persian word for "female heroes" and an apt description of the Muslim female athletes who triumph over cultural, social and religious barriers to excel at sport. We promote them as role models who speak out and stand up against discrimination. To shape a positive narrative around Muslim females and counter stereotypes exacerbated by mainstream media, we train female journalists to cover female athletes and train female athletes as role models and advocates. We uphold the Olympic Charter's statement that "The practice of sport is a human right." Everyone deserves access to sport and its consequent health, academic, economic, social and gender equality.

Sisterhood Agenda is an award-winning, tax-exempt nonprofit organization that creates and implements activities for women and girls around the globe for education, support and empowerment. Sisterhood Agenda promotes positive social change and has over 6,000 global partners in 36 countries. Global partners create an extensive sisterhood network to increase local organization capacity and unite women and girls. Sisterhood Agenda's SEA (Sisterhood Empowerment Academy), based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, attracts international participants. On global and local levels, Sisterhood Agenda addresses social, health, economic and cultural issues facing women and girls to promote positive life outcomes. Sisterhood Agenda's social impact is expanded through partnerships with agencies, individuals and businesses throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, India, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Africa, Australia, and other geographic regions. Sisterhood Agenda maintains its social networking sites and blog at www.sisterhoodagenda.com.

My Sister’s Place (MSP) seeks to end domestic violence and empower survivors to live healthy, independent lives free from violence. For over 40 years, MSP has been an innovator in changing lives by providing DC’s first hotline and first domestic violence shelter, and most recently, first Batterer Intervention group. As DC’s oldest domestic violence shelter, we have served as a cornerstone of the District’s response to this pressing public health issue since 1979, and our impact on DC’s community remains as strong as ever. MSP is unique in offering a full continuum of care from emergency shelter through transitional-to-permanent housing. Our experienced team of case managers and residential counselors provides clinical counseling, case management, and comprehensive services to empower survivors to recover and thrive. MSP also provides training, case consultation, and advocacy to engage communities to prevent violence and abuse. Our goal is to end domestic violence, and empower everyone to build healthy lives and relationships.

Our Mission: To work together with our communities to create, implement, equitably accesible, sustainable health, nutrition, and education services. Our Vision: People of the Frontera in Intibuca, known as the Dry Corridor of Intibuca, Honduras, live longer, healthier, more productive and fulfilling lives in a strong community. Our Values: We treat patients, students, and visitors with respect. We provide prompt and effective treatment as appropriate. We provide information to people and communities in need. We are honest and transparent with patients, communities, and donors. We take proper care of resources. We have skills to do the work, and we train and develop people. We partner effectively with governments, other NGOs, and citizen groups. We strive for excellence. We are results-oriented. We are a team and show mutual respect within the organization. Our organization prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference.

Our mission is to promote dignity, community, and self-sufficiency by working with marginalized populations in rural Honduras on a long-term basis, facilitating access to health care, education, and livable wages. Our comprehensive approach to grassroots community development promotes local traditions, encourages community leadership, and emphasizes collective ownership. Un Mundo seeks to improve the present and future socio-economic conditions and the quality of life of the families in rural Honduras who are living in extreme poverty by providing them with tools and resources to be self-sufficient and unified. Our work began from spontaneous relief actions after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras in 1998, and we grew to gain 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2001. Initially, the organization was sustained by the generosity of international volunteers, but we have gradually evolved such that more and more of our project work is managed by local Honduran leaders. Within a few years, we expect that we will be able to realize our vision of seeing equitable, fruitful, life-giving projects in the Cangrejal River Valley being 100% run by the local communities.

THEIR MISSION: " Futures Without Violence, formerly Family Violence Prevention Fund, works to prevent and end violence against women and children around the world. Creating futures without violence has been our vision for over thirty years. Now, it is also our name. From domestic and dating violence, to child abuse and sexual assault, Futures Without Violence works to end some of the most pressing global issues of our time. We advance the health, stability, education, and security of women and girls, men and boys worldwide. In 1994, Futures Without Violence was instrumental in developing the landmark Violence Against Women Act passed by the US Congress. Striving to reach new audiences and transform social norms, we train professionals such as doctors, nurses, athletic coaches, and judges on improving responses to violence and abuse. As well, we work with advocates, policy makers and others to build sustainable community leadership and educate people everywhere about the importance of respect and healthy relationships – the relationships that all individuals, families, and communities need and deserve."

Bethany House of Northern Virginia is located in Fairfax County, Virginia, providing emergency shelter and support services to women and children escaping domestic violence. We help women and their children who have suffered from domestic violence regain health and dignity. We provide women with safe, restorative care while giving them the support and resources they need to transition into independent lives free from abuse. We are non-jurisdictional. We accept women and children from across Northern Virginia, from the entire Washington, DC metropolitan area, from other states and beyond. Once our families are stabilized, we help them get reestablished in their community by providing temporary housing and support. Realizing the vision of our founder Doris Ward, since 1979, BHNV has been a safe haven for women and children suffering the nightmare of domestic violence while also serving as a resource to our community at large. BHNV is funded by grants and donations from businesses, charitable foundations, churches, organizations, and individual community members.