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The Golden Backpack Program (GBP) helps feed students in need by providing a sack full of enough food to feed a child for the entire weekend so that when they return to school each Monday, they arrive ready to learn because they had food over the weekend. Currently, the GBP provides assistance to about 150 students in nine local schools, including Mitchell Elementary, Shelton Elementary, Welchester Elementary, Kyffin Elementary, Free Horizon Montessori, Compass Montessori, Connections Learning Center, Bell Middle School and Golden High School. GBP also runs a Fresh Food Co-Op; providing rescue food from local grocery stores to families in need.

With the goal of helping under-served communities in India, Nepal, and Tibet receive the vital services they need, Karuna-Shechen was founded in 2000 by Matthieu Ricard (www.matthieuricard.org), renown TED speaker, author, and humanitarian. We strive to reduce inequalities and work toward a fairer and more compassionate world. We trust that communities can be lifted out of poverty, that change is possible, and that the well-being of every individual, regardless of race, gender, class, or caste, is essential. We believe that building on local strengths and knowledge is the most efficient way to respond to the specific needs and aspirations of our beneficiaries. Rooted in the ideal of "compassion in action", we serve others with joy and determination by cultivating altruism in our hearts and actions. We provide vulnerable and disadvantaged populations access to health care, education and vocational training, clean water, solar electricity, and other sustainable solutions that offer options to find a livelihood and a better life. We work with a grassroots network of local partners, and give special attention to the education and empowerment of girls and women. Karuna-Shechen's name expresses its mission while paying homage to its roots: Karuna means "compassion" in Sanskrit, and Shechen is the name of a major monastery in Tibet.

Our mission is to partner with Virginia farmers to increase community access to local food. We provide the support services, infrastructure, and market opportunities that connect people with food grown close to home. Our vision is that the knowledge and choice of local food becomes the norm, not the exception, for all segments of the community, and that small farms have a strong economic foothold in the marketplace. We offer a smarter, healthier alternative to traditional agribusiness models by reinstating small farms as the food source for the community. We forge close relationships with our farmers and provide essential services that lead to the direct distribution of fresh, high-quality food to institutions, retailers, restaurants, and schools. We create community partnerships that promote knowledge of and access to local food where it is needed most. We distribute Virginia-grown and produced items to restaurants, retailers, institutions, buying clubs, mainline distributors, and more. We serve Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg, Richmond, and the greater Washington, DC area.

Our vision is to live in a world where every individual and family has equal access to the conditions that create health and wellness. Research shows that wellness has two main ingredients – whole foods and whole people. Unfortunately, today we are living in a broken food system where many families lack access to fresh, affordable and healthy foods. Social isolation is also rampant, with many feeling cut off from community or isolated from strong social ties. In order to address these issues, Groceryships has created a holistic program combining practical skills like nutrition education and healthy cooking with a support-group structure that builds deep bonds of friendship and social connection. Our integrative approach promotes wellness by harnessing the power of whole foods, whole people, and whole communities. The results are powerful, as you’ll see. In order to realize our vision to create a healthy and well world, our families need your support. Please donate today.

To establish model medical facilities in order to alleviate the sufferings of poor and resource less patients and provide them quality medical care. To help the humanity in distress at times of natural calamities like Earth Quakes, Accidents, IDPs crisis and so forth. To conduct training programmes for Community Health Workers in collaboration with other community based organizations and donor agencies. To create awareness among the general public for improvement of their health through health education. To help deserving and talented students and provide financial support to widows and poor families who cannot afford treatment on their own. To achieve simple treatment goals through cost effective local medicines including Herbs and Folk Home Remedies designed to cure as many patients as possible with few side effects. To provide best possible treatment to the poor and needy patients through qualified and specialist doctors. To develop a Health Education Programme designed to improve the quality of life through preventative measures. To conduct training programmes for Community Health Workers in collaboration with other community based organizations and donor agencies. To establish a Centre of Excellence for the treatment of Tuberculosis (in line with WHOs, DOT programme), Hepatitis-C and other Infectious Diseases. To provide immediate relief in case of natural disasters and calamities and also to take active part in rehabilitation of the affected population.

Farmer Foodshare’s mission is to reshape the disconnected food system by removing barriers to growing and accessing local food. Farmer Foodshare is unique in that we approach hunger from both sides of the problem - supporting North Carolina’s small farmers who are struggling to stay in business and disadvantaged populations who lack access to fresh and nutritious food. Since 2009, Farmer Foodshare has fostered cross-sector partnerships to support our efforts to build a local food system in which all members of our community can have access to healthy, nutritious food, and those who labor in agriculture can make a viable living. Farmer Foodshare began as a grassroots effort at the Carrboro Farmers Market to address inequitable access to fresh, healthy food for all members of the community. Farmers, market shoppers, and those experiencing food insecurity alike began a produce donation program to collect food from shoppers and farmers for communities in need. This “donation station” concept now operates at 26 markets statewide. Some are run by Farmer Foodshare, some by local volunteers, and a few are driven by community organizations, and in 2018, they contributed 51,445 pounds of fresh produce back into the community. Over the past 10 years, Farmer Foodshare has expanded its impact. We now operate a Wholesale Market that provides local institutions a means to efficiently source produce from NC farmers and generated $636,000 in revenue for these growers in 2018; a Food Ambassador program that provides nutrition and food system education to more than 8,000 high need students; and Community Foodshare, which supports community organizations in identifying and creating a variety of sustainable strategies for sourcing and learning about fresh, nutritious local food. All of these efforts work to build a more sustainable and equitable local food system.

Community Bridges envisions a thriving community where every person has the opportunity to unleash their full potential. Our family of ten programs delivers essential services, provides equitable access to resources, and advocates for health and dignity across every stage of life. Every year, we meet the needs of thousands of local children, families and seniors with broad support from individuals, businesses, foundations and government. We believe that when we work together, anything is possible. Our Child Development Division's experienced, bilingual teachers offer early education opportunities, developmental screenings, and family engagement at six centers throughout the county. Child & Adult Care Food Program is a nutrition assistance program that ensures low-income children and adults attending licensed facilities receive healthy meals and each every day. Elderday Adult Day Health Care is the only program of its kind in Santa Cruz County, serving approximately 70 elders and adults with physical, emotional, or cognitive impairments each day. It provides the services this vulnerable population needs to stay healthy and maintain the highest level of independence possible. Our Family Resource Collective works with individuals and families to build safe, healthy, and compassionate communities through education, resources, and advocacy. It includes La Manzana Community Resources, Live Oak Family Resource Center, Mountain Community Resources, and Nueva Vista. Lift Line provides accessible rides to low-income, disabled, elderly and frail individuals each year, ensuring that their medical, nutritional, and emotional needs are met. Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County serves more than 600 meals per day to low-income, frail, elderly, and disabled residents. With no required payment or waiting list, those in need can count on a warm meal at one of our five centers, or delivered straight to their doors. Women, Infants & Children (WIC) provides nutrition education, food stamps, and breastfeeding support to more than 9,000 low-income pregnant women, infants and children each month, helping families thrive.

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"

The Portland Food Project was started in 2012 by Richard Nudelman, a Southeast Portland resident, who was concerned about hunger in the Portland area. He realized that many of his neighbors wanted to help fight hunger in their community, but for one reason or another, never get around to it. So to make it easy, he adopted a simple, door-to-door food collection system to enable people to pitch in. The new organization had three goals: To provide a regular supply of food to hungry neighbors To create new neighborhood connections and strengthen the community To serve as a model for other communities Richard started by inviting neighbors and friends to participate. Whenever someone said “Yes,” he suggested that they buy just one extra nonperishable food item each week, and store it at home. He promised to stop by the donors’ homes every two months, pick the food up, and take it directly to PFP’s food pantry partners. Portland Food Project started with 14 initial donors. In 2012, they contributed 237 lbs. of food to two Southeast Portland food pantries: The Kelly School SUN Pantry and SE Community Food Pantry. Today, there are 120 Neighborhood Coordinators picking up food from about 1,600 households. Every other month, we collect about 19,000 lbs of food. By the end of 2018, PFP had collected more than 423,000 lbs.—the equivalent of more than 350,000 meals—one bag at a time! It’s an amazing success story…but there’s still plenty of need in our area, and plenty of room for the PFP to grow. So join us! Don’t wait for a neighbor to knock on your door. Get in touch and let us know you want to share food. We’ll bring you a green bag, and get you started right away!

Bentworth Blessings is a place for volunteers and supporters of the Bentworth Schools Blessings in a Backpack program to connect and get updates on the program.

The mission of AZCEND formerly Chandler Christian Community Center is to change lives by nourishing minds and bodies to create a connected, thriving community. They strengthen families and communities through food boxes; senior nutrition; rent and utility assistance; parenting, health and literacy classes; homeless services; and other comprehensive programs and resources.

The Fondy Food Center connects Greater Milwaukee to local, fresh food – from farm to market to table – so that children learn better, adults live healthier, and communities celebrate cultural food traditions. The non-profit brings healthy food and economic opportunity to Greater Milwaukee by operating local farmers markets throughout the year; providing access to land, resources and support to small-scale farmers; and building a better food system to improve food security & food justice in our community - through programs like Fondy Farmers Market on Milwaukee’s Northside to the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market to the Fondy Farm. Fondy’s projects work together to improve fresh, local food access for all Milwaukeeans while supporting small farmers.