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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"

Vision: Being an organization that mobilizes social engagement in child and youth development to enable them to grow up to be qualified adults Mission: 1) Promote quality of life for children and youth 2) Mobilize resources and build collaborative relationships across the society to support our cause 3) Upgrade organizational capacity to become a leading agency for child and youth development Strategy I: Support children and youth to grow up to be qualified adults Strategy II: Mobilze resources and cooperation Strategy III: Promote partnership and network for child and youth development Strategy IV: Strengthen organizational capacity, transparency, and good governance

Book Baskets, a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was established in 1995 with the goal of encouraging reading through book ownership. For over 20 years we have been deeply committed to giving new or lightly used books to those children in our area who might not otherwise have books of their own. We currently serve over 30 local social service agencies or education programs. On average, we place over 20,000 books per year into the appreciative hands of children from the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area. A small bookplate is placed in the front of each book, allowing the recipient to identify the gift book as his or her own.

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.

Urban Food Alliance strives to alleviate food insecurity in local communities. We help feed the hungry in several ways:1) We provide warm meals at shelters and in places where homeless people gather. 2) We reach out to local Social Services departments to identify where meals are needed and work with them to organize collection drives to supply community food banks and soup kitchens.3) We create alliances with schools, community service groups, restaurants and other organizations to bring volunteers and resources together.4) In the long term, we hope to offer food education programs that will help people shop for and prepare healthy foods on a budget.

Our vision is of a Zimbabwe in which orphans & vulnerable children have access to all their basic needs & are holistically developing to realize their full mental, physical & social potential. Our mission is to empower communities to adequately support & care for orphans & vulnerable children in Zimbabwe & to lobby & advocate for children's rights. Our goal is to provide community-based holistic services in a sustainable way to orphans and vulnerable children in the Harare suburbs of Mbare, Sunningdale, Waterfalls & Ardbennie. Our organisational focus is on: a. Strong governance & management b. Resource mobilisation c. Human resource development d. Strong accountability systems e. Learning and sharing

Perched atop the buried pre-classic Maya city of Chocola, the village of Chocola on the back slopes of the volcanoes that form Lake Atitlan, is poverty stricken yet poised to become a model of cultural celebration and self-sufficiency. What it needs most is leadership training and technical support to develop its potential for diversified agriculture, archeological-tourism, health care for its families and education for its children. In its simplest terms, the mission of Seeds for a Future is to help this impoverished community plan and achieve prosperity based on balanced development principles that protect cultural tradition, the natural environment and preserve the Mayan and post-colonial history of the town. Seeds for a Future traces its roots to the period from 2003 through 2006 when many Earthwatch Institute volunteers came to Chocola to work on the archaeological site, which was then being excavated under license from the Guatemalan government. The volunteers embraced being associated with an important archaeological endeavor and learned about the vast pre-Classic Maya city that may hold keys to the early development of Mayan language, system of time and other fundamental cultural practices. At the same time, many of us fell in love with the community, its families and children and the fabulous, healthy mountain environment. As a result, groups of volunteers organized to help a community struggling with terrible poverty and deprivation to find a way to prosperity without destroying their way of life or the delicate balance of their natural environment. A vision emerged among a core of volunteers, Guatemalan visionaries and local leaders in which Chocola is seen as lifting itself into a more healthy and prosperous community based on its historic farming skills, adding value to its coffee, vegetable and cacao producers and through community cooperative action. In the future, there is great promise for the development of Chocola as a tourist destination based on archaeo-tourism; conservation of the natural resources in which the community is embedded and conservation of one of the first and greatest coffee processing plants (beneficios) established during the 1890s. But we also discovered in the early years that before Chocola could begin to realize its potential, the people needed training in identifying their own vision for the future, learning to work together and acquiring the technical skills needed for success. Overcoming 500 years of economic and social servitude is not easily done, but real progress is being made and our program has been recognized as ground-breaking, by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and others. Four operating principles guide the work we do: We provide information and technical assistance to the people of Chocola to help them evaluate new opportunities and to plan. We provide direct funding and other forms of support for community requests for assistance on specific projects. These requests must come through Chocola leadership and must demonstrate sustainability and a willingness and capability of the community to provide part of the needed resources. All programs must aim at achieving self-sufficiency. We will help with programs that governmental agencies believe may be of value, provided that they too meet the same test as is noted for the community above. All such requests must be consistent with our mission to help the people and do no harm to either the Maya archaeological site or to the 1890 Coffee Finca site. In all of our programs we try to ensure that the participants become more engaged in the social and civil fabric, that they gain self confidence in their ability to change their own future for the better, and that we provide knowledge and coaching for a sufficient period of time that their activities and new ideas become self-sustaining in the community.

OUR MISSION: Uniting People with Opportunities. The United Planning Organization, the designated community action agency for Washington, DC, was established December 10, 1962 to plan, coordinate, and implement human services programs for low-income residents in the Nation's Capital. For over 50 years, UPO has been in the forefront of the war on poverty. As the catalyst for economic security and growth for all Washington, DC residents, UPO has laid the groundwork for innovative social service programs such as weatherization and energy conservation services, Head Start, workforce development training and youth development. Today, UPO continues to provide residents with comprehensive resources for early childhood education; youth development; employment and training; family and community services; case management and referrals to other supportive services.

EVA is a non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service and registered in the State of Illinois. It was created for the purpose of assisting Ecuadorian institutions devoted to educational, social, and health programs for the poor, neglected, and at-risk segments of the population. EVA is run by volunteers, and the various programs are implemented through network of viable, non-profit Ecuadorian institutions previously selected by a careful screening process. EVA requires that all the funds collected and distributed as yearly grants be only used for programmatic objectives of the organization it sponsors. EVA's Community Assistance Grant was instituted in 2008 to improve the quality of life of economically disadvantaged people living in the Chicago Metropolitan area where EVA is located. I Since its inception, we have been giving opportunities to advance educational, health, and human service programs in the local community.

THE ORGANIZATON OPERATES WEEKLY FOOD PANTRIES IN SOMERVILLE, BOUND BROOK AND NORTH PLAINFIELD. THE ORGANIZATION MEETS EMERGENCY FOOD NEEDS ON A DAILY BASIS FOR PEOPLE REFERRED BY SOCIAL AGENCIES AND RESPONDS TO FAMILY NEEDS DURING NATURAL EMEGENCIES, SUCH AS FLOODING, FIRE AND THE 2020 PANDEMIC. IN ADDITION, THE ORGANIZATION DISTRIBUTES USDA GOVERNMENT SURPLUS FOOD WHEN AVAILABLE, PURCHASES SPECIAL DIETARY FOOD FOR PEOPLE WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS WHO ARE WITHOUT FUNDS AND DELIVERS WEEKEND MEALS TO SHUT-IN SENOIR CITIZENS. THOSE WHO RECEIVE FOOD INCLUDE FOOD INCLUDE SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES, LOW INCOME FAMILIES, LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED OR UNDER EMPLOYED PERSONS, SENIOR CITIZENS WITH INADEQUATE FIXED INCOMES, AND PEOPLE WITH A GENUINE NEED THAT FALL BETWEEN THE CRACKS OF EXISTING PUBLIC PROGRAMS.

The mission of Trinity Cafe is to restore a sense of dignity to the homeless and hungry while serving a nutritious meal. We faithfully treat all of God's children with acceptance, compassion, love and respect. --- At Trinity Cafe, we provide a meal, but what we serve means so much more. Founded in 2001, Trinity Cafe has served more than 1.2 MILLION meals with dignity, compassion, love and respect. Hunger does not take a holiday. Meals are served at two Tampa Bay locations, 365 days a year: weekdays at 11:30 a.m. and weekends at 9 a.m. Meals are prepared by our professional chef and served by an army of volunteers. We set our tables with cloths, china and silverware, seat our guests and restore a sense of dignity to lives turned bleak by the streets. Volunteer table hosts sit at each table offering conversation, encouragement and support. We ask our guests for nothing in return, just enjoy. Together with the solidarity and commitment of our staff, volunteers and treasured support of our partners and the community, Trinity Cafe strives to be a gateway to positive change in the lives of the people we serve. We seek to enlarge our guests’ capacity for self-help and reconnect them to the broader community. Trinity Cafe is a place of kindness, compassion, and dignity… a respite to those in need. Very simply, Trinity Cafe is defined by its daily demonstration of humanity in action. “Humanity begins with a meal.”

Silverton Area Community Aid (SACA) is a non-profit social service organization whose mission is to improve lives by providing food, services and access to community resources. We provide emergency food, financial assistance and other services to people in need within the Silver Falls School District. Through our food pantry in 2020, we served an average of 209 households each month (about 640 people), providing them with a 3-5-day supply of food at each visit. We also provided over $107,000 in emergency financial aid to help residents of our community stay in their homes, pay utility bills, pay for prescriptions, receive dental care, and get to job interviews and other important appointments by providing bus passes and fuel vouchers. In 2021, the need is even greater.