The UPS Foundation’s Global Focus on Hunger
Hunger is a persistent challenge for hundreds of millions of people worldwide, even in the developed world, including countries in Europe and North America. According to a November 2005 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, hunger and malnutrition are the underlying cause of more than half of all child deaths, killing nearly 6 million children each year. A survey of U.S. cities released in December 2005 reports that during that year, requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 12 percent.
The UPS Foundation began its engagement in the hunger area through its support in the growth of the prepared and perishable food rescue field. Many of these community-based programs are responsible for collecting and distributing fresh and cooked foods, donated by food service establishments, such as restaurants, hotels, caterers, concessionaires and grocers, to local social welfare agencies providing meals to people in need. From 1989 to 2004, The UPS Foundation contributed $15.7 million dollars to support food rescue programs.
UPS continues to support local food agencies around the world. In Brazil, The UPS Foundation supports organizations’ efforts to both provide food and also create jobs. UPS funded projects include building or renovating kitchens, building bakeries that generate jobs and also provide meals in local communities and reaching underserved populations across Brazil. As UPS operations expand in China, The UPS Foundation is focusing on hunger and poverty alleviation there in 2006.
Beginning in 2004, The UPS Foundation refocused its efforts to combat hunger to support organizations in the U.S. that address obesity and other health consequences of hunger. While seemingly contrary, hunger and obesity do often co-exist. In 2003, 36.3 million Americans had limited access to nutritionally adequate food, according to a November 2004 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report using Census Bureau surveys. UPS’s new national funding focus on hunger, called the National Collaboration to Reduce Hunger & Improve Nutrition, is the result of the March 2004 UPS National Hunger Forum. In partnership with the Congressional Hunger Center, The UPS Foundation facilitated discussion among a diverse group of anti-hunger leaders on approaches to reducing hunger. As a result of this forum, UPS has invested more than two million dollars in supporting organizations addressing hunger, nutrition and obesity. Goals of this initiative include increasing access to nutritious foods by strengthening systems and service delivery, increasing collaboration among organizations and finding effective solutions to work towards the long-term elimination of hunger.
The UPS Foundation’s National Collaboration to Reduce Hunger and Improve Nutrition supports eight national and regional organizations.
- The Society of Saint Andrew inBig Island, Virginia, received a grant to expand distribution of otherwise wasted fresh produce from local farms through gleaning to local food banks while increasing local volunteerism and organizational capacity.
- Share Our Strength in Washington, D.C. is working to build the capacity and expand the reach of the Operation Frontline nutrition education program.
- America’s Second Harvest in Chicago received a grant to develop a web-based allocation tool that will encourage local affiliates to maximize and share their local food resources and improve access to nutritional food products.
- National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington, D.C. is workingto educate state legislators on the challenges and opportunities to improve nutrition and fight obesity while connecting them with their federal counterparts and nonprofit community organizations.
- Food Research and Action Center in Washington, D.C. will provide leadership and technical assistance to state and local anti-hunger organizations, schools and nutrition service providers to increase participation of families and schools in programs such as summer food, school breakfast and school wellness policies.
- D.C. Central Kitchens, Inc. in Washington, D.C. is using the UPS grant to expand distribution of meals to the hungry, increase college campus volunteerism, increase nutrition education for the hungry and provide job training to low-income individuals through the national Campus Kitchens program.
- Community Food Security Coalition in Venice, California, will provide targeted and strategic assistance to three regional community food security initiatives in the Southwest, Baltimore, Md. and New York.
- Children’s Hunger Alliance in Columbus, Ohio is working to expand access to school breakfasts, improve the quality of food offered to children during the school day and increase opportunities for youth to be involved in physical activity outside the regular school day in Ohio.
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